the dark knight trailer looks pretty cool. never liked the 90's batman films, but i did like the design on the penguin batman one.

anyway, this one looks like i'll be pretty cool stuff. :)

still, if its out in june, i agree they are showing this stuff too early. 

proper comments later along with other stuff I have seen recently, but the hype's true, No Country For Old Men is instant classic material. 

seen a lot lately, some reviews :

Atonement - I wasnt a huge fan of Pride and Prejudice, mainly because of the leads' performances, but you could tell Joe Wright had talent. That talent's on full display for pretty much the entirety of his followup, which is an excellent film (even Keira Knightley puts in an above average performance).

The first half period drama is much better than the second half at war, even though the second half is established with that astonishing tracking shot. Its almost as if Wright manages to say all that he needs to say with that 5 min shot at the start of the second half and ends up repeating rather than adding to what he managed to achieve with that shot.

However, the ending manages to overcome the not quite so potent second half, with Vanessa Redgrave outacting anything in sight with her face. The four-five minute closeup of her is as good and makes just as much an impact as the Dunkirk tracking shot.

7.5/10


The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson bounces back after the abysmal Life Aquatic and even though its not really any different to his previous stuff, its still a funny and well etched character comedy.

The 8 min short before the film that sets up Jason Schwartzman's character is also quite good and is pretty much necessary viewing because otherwise Schwartzman's character comes off as fairly one dimensional.

Owen Wilson and Schwartzman do well, even though its kind of repetitive as they've done this sort of stuff before with Anderson. But Adrien Brody surprises, showing deft comic timing and a sense of dry laconin humour.

Anderson provides some nice touches too, such as the cabin epilogue at the end, but I thought he got a little too cute at times especially towards the end.

7.5/10


No Country for Old Men - Easily the best film of the year and the jewel in Joel and Ethan Coen's filmography I think. They've made some excellent stuff over the years but this is a highpoint.

At first glance, it seems to be a very non-Coen movie, lacking the quirky characters and humour that are the staple of pretty much all their films. But on closer inspection, the film style is basically a more refined version of what they did in Blood Simple.

For close to two hours, its a perfectly executed suspense film, with no scene or shot out of place. Then it flips itself over in the last ten minutes to become a different beast, and I think its those last 10 min make it great and yet, at the same time, are also the movie's slightly weak point.

Its not the content of those last 10 min, thats great, but the manner in which the themes of the film are turned on their head is a bit jarring. I dont think the last ten minutes should have been changed or omitted, they are perfectly done, but th transition could perhaps have been slightly better executed.

Still, instant classic.

8.5/10


More to come. 

more :

The Bicycle Thieves (1948) - genuine classic from Vittorio de Sica about a poor man (and his son) in post-war Rome looking for his stolen bicycle on which his livelihood depends.

Extremely simple in almost every aspect but very very effective. Its almost as if De Sica simply stumbled upon the man on the street and decided to shoot around him during this part of his life.

Essential viewing if you are at all into films.

8.5/10


Brief Encounter (1945) - another classic from David Lean, this is very unlike his later epics but is still an extremely well made melodrama set in post war middle class Britain. The performances are great and the direction is delicate, focusing on small gestures that say a lot.

Stays with you well after the end.

8.5/10


Breach - above average followup to Shattered Glass by Billy Ray. It takes a while to really become interesting and even then its better when it focuses on the relationship between Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe's characters than the standard thriller cliches.

6.5/10


The Bourne Ultimatum - the weakest of the three but still quite a good film. Lacks the character moments of the first two films, which is really what separated them from your usual crap action movie, but the pacing is fast enough for that to not be a huge concern. Still not a fan of the shooting style, but having said that, I enjoyed most of the action set pieces.

7/10


The Cider House Rules - very unfocused and oversentimental, two aspects that usually ruin a film for me, but this time it works. I dont know why, the direction is nothing great, the performances are ok. It may have been the story venturing into areas that I wasnt expecting every now and then.

6.5/10 

Broken Flowers (2005) - It's slow paced but theres plenty on offer for those looking for something a bit different. The performances are quite good and the writing is top notch, carefully revealing details about Bill Murray's main character thrugh each encounter with one of his previous lovers.

Theres also some nice dry humour throughout.

7/10


Cries and Whispers (1972) - when he's not on song, watching an Ingmar Bergman movie is still interesting but not all that satisfying or engaging. When he is going, they are *very* emotionally involving and thats certainly the case here in this swedish period piece about two sisters looking after a thrid sister that is close to death.

It's probably one of the most painful movies I have ever seen (although I should add that its not necessarily depressing) and contains some incredible acting and stunning cinematography.

8-8.5/10


Full Metal Jacket - rewatch after many years and I still think its terrible.

Sure there's things to like, mainly on a technical level, but I found the tone to be way off. More importantly, this is probably the most disconnected I have felt with any movie I have seen.

A lot of people like at least the initial training half, but I find even that to be fairly weak and unconvincing in its execution.

4.5/10 

I LOVE that film!

I remember January 1st 2000 - I was suffering from alcohol poisoning from the night before, sat at a friends house being sick repeatedly into a bucket, watching that film!! I'll never forget it, truly amazing performances specifically by the person who played Pvt Gober Pile and the Drill Sargent, but also (I should know his name) Pvt Joker at the end - a true sense of the reality of the horrors of war. The message for me was that, when left wandering what the point of it all was, there is no real point to war... 

well if thats what you got out of it, great, because that's definitely what it was going for.

With me though, it just left me saying hmm... 

Are you a film critic by profession? I'm astounded by the number of films you manage to watch :)

Or are you just trying to watch every film ever made before you die? (sorry if that's the case :) 

I guess he is watching the movies in "fast forward" mode :P Otherwize, how could he have time to watch them all ? 

I watched Porco Rosso (Kurenai no buta (1992)) on the weekend. It is a Studio Ghibli movie and as it seems the other, famous Ghibli titles quite "overshine" this one.

It is hard for me to write about it, English is not strong in me today. :P

It has easily became my new favorite Ghibli movie. I just love "bitter and sarcastic lonely guy talks about the happenings in inner voice" (Hello, Sin City!) but I guess one has to be a bit like that oneself.

Highly recommended if you are a Ghibli fan or just a movie lover who does not think of Anime as soulless childish crap. 

I Am Legend - bah what a missed opportunity, and it started out so promising. Up to the halfway mark it had been a really good, atmospheric "last man on earth" film that really drew you in - then the Zompires turned up in all their cartoonish shittily-CG-rendered "glory" and it turned into a pretty boring, formulaic and contrived shoot-em-up with bad graphics. It finished pretty abruptly too - as if the director just hit the 90-minute mark, went "Fuck it" and stormed off set to spend the rest of the production schedule (and money) buggering prostitutes. 

no, just a hobby like gaming.

I'm just lucky enough to have a job that leaves me plenty of spare time:) Plus at the moment I'm on holidays. 

i am legend -- left me saying "meh" also, I think because though it was well done, it seemed to be entirely composed of ideas that are well-worn, familiar, and not at all suprising. I know the book was written decades ago, but it's possible to inject new details into a book conversion even if the book is old.

sweeny todd -- kind of nice; music didn't do much for me, but some early-on plot twists felt fresh. I guess another meh, but like i am legend, had some quality going on but didn't really satisfy me.

death proof -- finally saw this, really enjoyed it; tarantino seems to really understand what he is doing with each movie. I agree with nitin about the elements of self-indulgence, but I think he brings enough positive stuff to a movie to make it worth watching anyway.

blade runner final cut -- not much is different here, other than Zorba shooting first. It seems to be basically the director's cut with a tiny amount of new footage (like 5 seconds here or there) and some digital cleanup. I still like the movie, and it was interesting to see that on the big screen, the special effects are more obvious than on my old VHS copy.

i think i've run out of mehs, so i'll stop now. 

they changes the ending for I am Legend from what I understand, and that's a shame because the book had a good one.

And death proof would have been great if it stopped after the first hlf :) 

New Ghibli film? But is it better or worse - you say overshined by the previous' but your new favourite - ? 

Hangover Square (1945) - B grade 40's horror/thriller almost given A grade treatment by John Brahm. Its moody, looks superb and is reasonably well acted. The plot on the other hand is not quite up to scratch and lets it down quite a bit.

5.5/10


The Last King of Scotland - excellent film from documentary maker Kevin Macdonald. The first 90 min are spot on, the movie managing to capture the different tones and moods of its different characters quite distinctively. There is also an uneasy buildup of tension throughout. Performances are top notch with Whitaker, James McAvoy and Gillian Anderson producing some very fine work.

The last 20 min or so arent quite up to scratch though with the movie descending into routine thriller material.

7.5/10


East of Eden (1955) - Not a fan of Rebel Without a Cause, and after having seen this, this is really the one James Dean should be remembered for.

This is almost a great film, a weak ending IMHO drags it down, and Elia Kazan can take much of the credit for its quality. But it really is James Dean's central performance that makes it what it is, he is a very a mannered performer, but its no less magnetic because of it.

Some of the scenes in this are as great as anything ever made.

7.5/10


Rescue Dawn (2006) - Christian Bale is on some sort of roll at the moment, he can do no wrong. He puts in another fine performance and combined with Werner Herzog's fetish for authenticity makes this film about the story of vietnamese POW Dieter Dengler a very personal experience for the viewer.

It's quite slow and some of the other actors are a bit annoying with their performances but if you can get past those issues this is well worth watching.

7/10 

porco rosso is an old ghibli film, 1992 like spirit says.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews20/porco_rosso_dvd_review.htm 

"overshined" not by quality but by not being mentioned like the others. I stumbled over it randomly.

I suggest not reading/watching that review, it gives away quite a lot. I hate when reviews or trailers or samples do that. "I know that scene has to come somewhen, I saw it already". Bah! 

Probably why I hadn't heard of it then. My favourite of the bunch is probably Spirited away still, rather than Princess Mononoke.

It's kind of Disney style but skewed and a bit more grim, as their name says - a fresh wind. 

I'd order it but Amazon doesn't deliver out here; I'll have to do some hunting in those 'shop' things. 

The Good:

Juno

A genuinely funny, feel good movie about an immature teenage girl dealing with a pregnancy she's not ready for. The movie has some cringeworthy dialogue that tries too hard at times (e.g. the phrase "honest to blog" delivered as if people actually talk like that) but the good things about it helped it from getting ruined by the dialogue.

It's superb when it's not trying too hard to seem hip or in touch with youth culture, and still pretty good even when it is. Ellen Page is the perfect actress to play Juno -- she doesn't look a day older than 16 but has enough experience and restraint at 21 to master the role whereas an actual 16 year old might get caught up in the quirkiness of it all.

Children of Men

Incredible movie about a dystopian future in which mankind has suddenly lost the ability to reproduce. Brilliant pacing with perfectly placed periods of tension and resolution.

It's a essentially a message movie with a few different messages about the meaning of life, maintaining hope for the future and faith in humankind. The kind of movie that leaves you a little stunned when it's over.

Little Miss Sunshine

Good light-hearted fare about a dysfunctional family on a roadtrip. Lots of funny scenes and great performances by everyone involved, especially the little girl.

Motorcycle Diaries

A great movie about a roadtrip across the entire South American continent that Che Guevara and his friend took when they were young lads. They took the trip merely as a way to find adventure they ended up consumed by the injustices they saw along the way (Che moreso than his friend obviously)

The acting by Gael Garc�a Bernal was excellent in that he did a great job portraying the transformation of a reasonably normal kid into a passionate revolutionary. A beautifully shot movie and wonderfully paced -- to the point where I was genuinely disappointed when it was over because I wanted the story to go on forever. I seriously hope the same cast and crew do a movie about the latter half of Che's life but I doubt that'd happen.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

I actually just watched this tonight (thanks Lun) and you can watch it too! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7764236988646880932&hl=en

A great documentary about Daniel Johnston -- a seriously mentally ill singer/songwriter who almost broke through to great success several times in his career only to have his illness hold him back. A good chronicle of the man's life, it's also a great reminder of the mysterious ways the brain drives some people to see the world through artistic eyes and how that same drive can ultimately transform into out and out dysfunction.

It's really touching to hear his parents talk about his struggles and I admit I got a little choked up when his dad was talking about the event that occured when he and Daniel were flying home from a gig later in his career. A great movie.

No Country for Old Men

Brilliant, tense, action packed meditation on the consequences of one's actions, fate and evil. Some very nice photography throughout the movie and great performances by the leads.

Another movie with a brilliant sense of pace -- the way it makes the viewer feel like they're being chased by a vengeful, hellish demon right along with the main character is outstanding.

The Bad:


Syriana

A wannabe Dickensian tale without Dickens' sensibility to tie things together coherently or present some kind of story along the way. Structurally very reminiscent of Traffic (and well it should since it has the same writer) it lacks the the sense of cohesion and relevance that made that movie so good.

The acting overall was pretty poor as well.

Matt Damon channels Good Will Hunting via oil economics in a scene so bad and bereft of realistic emotion that it will make you laugh out loud.

George Clooney plays himself. Awesome.

28 Weeks Later

Definitely the worst movie I've seen in a while. It's essentially exactly the same as its predecessor 28 Days Later which defeats the entire purpose of having a sequel. It feels more like the sequels that get made for video games than a movie sequel. There was really no reason for this movie to be made other than to try and be a modern "Dawn/Day/Night of the Dead" franchise which it was never meant to be in the first place.

Robert Carlyle who's been so brilliant in so many movies (especially Trainspotting) is especially bland in this movie, but the character they wrote for him was shitty to begin with so I don't blame him. An utterly pointless movie that rehashes 28 Days Later to the point where you'd probably go insane if you watched them back to back. 

agree on children of men, no country for old men and mototcycle diaries. I found Syriana to be above average despite being try hard complex and Little Miss Sunshine just didnt work for me.

Juno's opening here soon, quite want to see that.

Havent seen the others 

They Live by Night - if it looks like noir and smells like noir, it must be noir? Not when its made by Nicholas Ray.

Much like On Dangerous Ground and In a Lonely Place, Ray dresses up what really is a character piece in noir sensibility and the result is again an excellent film. There's some very nifty use of light and shadow here to accentuate the scenes but its the care shown towards the characters that really makes it work.

The movie itself was later remade by Robert Altman as Thieves Like Us and inspired Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde.

7.5/10


Ivan's Childhood (1962) - Surprisingly narrative oriented movie from the great Andrei Tarkovsky and the narrative seem to hamper him. Or maybe its the average script which struggles to connect the audience with what should be a sympathetic story of a young russian boy used as a scout by the army during the WWII.

Nevertheless, Tarkovsky imbues the film with his trademark meditative touches, such as the boy's surreal dreams and non visual flashbacks, and is once again a genius with his camera.

7/10


My Man Godfrey (1936) - excellent screwball comedy, william powell and carole lombard make a great pairing, the supporting cast is terrific and the script is great in both its dramatic and extremely witty comedic moments.

7.5/10


The Sopranos Season 6 Part 2 - I found the whole last season (part 1 included) to be a big disappointment. Season 5 had the show back on track and the first half of Part 1 was excellent too.

But everything from then on was just very very average. This Part still has some very good episodes but there's some very shoddily written ones too.

Also, events that should have been given more time were rushed, and plotlines that should have been avoided got way too much screentime. If the Vito storyline was the shocker last time, its the AJ storyline this time.

I didnt mind the final episode that much, but overall, given that they 20 episodes to wrap this season up, it felt very underwhelming.

6.5/10 

I really truly believe, that they gave the AJ storyline so might weight because they had planned to have him die in the last episode. Only, to have backed on in the editing room 

but that whole storyline was poorly written and the actor that plays AJ is one of the weakest on he show which didnt help either.

Some more :

Viridiana (1961) - Luis Bunuel's controversial movie about the short period in the life of a soon-to-become-nun during and after she visits her late aunt's widower husband for a few days is one his less surreal efforts but still just as effective as his more bizarre work.

The first half is very strong, the movie introducing some very interesting characters and going off in all sorts of unexpected directions. The second half, which generated a lot of the controversy, is still good, but I found it to be a bit too heavy handed and predictable.

7/10


Zatoichi (2003) - Not bad update by Takeshi Kitano of the Zatoichi series of films about a blind samurai swordsman but it never really got going for me. There's some inspired parts but on the whole I found it to be very unoriginal.

5.5/10


Knocked Up - way too long for what it is, and it especially drags towards the end, but otherwise it's smartly written and performed and also pretty funny.

6.5-7/10


Rome Season 2 - A bit surprised as it probably turned out a little bit better than season 1. The first season was held together by Ciaran Hinds as Julius Caesar an with his absence from this season, I wasnt expecting much.

But the show does some very interesting things with Mark Antony and Octavian Caesar this time around and once again is at its strongest when it sticks to the political side of the roman empire. Havig said that, there is less annoying soap opera this time in the lives of the two soldier characters which is also a plus.

7/10


Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) - Above average teen road movie by Alfonso Cuaron which is less annoying than its amercian counterparts because it has characters you dont want to punch out after a few minutes.

Its also helped by some very natural performances, some reasonably funny moments and a breakaway technique used to make the places (and inhabitants of those places) they go to a part of the picture.

What doesnt work is a voiceover technique that fills you in on what was probablly intended to be interesting little details but starts to grate very early on. It also takes to long to do what it set out to do.

Still, a solid watch.

6/10