Winchester 73 (1950) - I'd read a lot about the Anthony Mann/James Stewart westerns but had not got around to any of them till now. This is probably the most well known one and it's a cracker of a film, superbly paced and written and the direction is faultless. The only negative is a very uncomfortably drawn female character which comes across as an afterthought in an otherwise great movie.

7.5-8/10


The Goddess of 1967 (2000) - an interesting if ultimately flawed aussie film about a japanese man (rikiyo kurokawa) who travels to Australia to buy The Goddess of 1967, a 60's citroen DS, and ends up on a road trip with a mysterious blind girl (rose byrne).

The performances are engaging, Dion Beebes' cinematography is exceptional, and director Clara Law shows occasional flashes of brilliance during certain scenes. On the whole though, it's far too obsessed with referencing the french new wave films of godard, melville, truffaut and co and ends up being too long and too muddled.

5/10


Brothers (2004) - another find film from Susanne Bier, this time a drama about the lives of a UN solider believed to be dead after a helicopter crash in the Middle East, his wife back home in Denmark and his just out of prison brother who is living with his wife and children. Once again Bier turns what should be a contrived, manipulative story into anything but that with skilful avoidance of cliches, absorbing characters, strong performances and deft use of humour.

American remake currently being made by jim sheridan with natalie portman, jake gylenhaal and tobey maguire.

7-7.5/10


<b.The Counterfeiters (2006) - last year's best foreign film winner is equally as good as the german film that won the previous year's award, The Lives of Others.

Karl Mankovics, in a remarkable central performance, plays conflicted nazi prisoner Sally, "the most famous countefeiter in the world" who strikes a deal to be spared and receive better treatment for himself and some others in exchange for making copies of the pound and US dollar for german use.

The film is excellent in showing both sides of the coin of this situation (bad joke unintentional) and although it doesn't reach any great heights at any stage, its tightly made and very very interesting.

7.5-8/10

On a side note, I cant believe this story is true, the germans were totally crazy.


All That Heaven Allows (1955) - the movie that Far From Heaven is meant to be a homage to and you can definitely see the inspiration. Like Todd Haynes' film, this one has a really strong central performance from Jane Wyman that anchors the whole thing as the melodrama plays out around her in opulent technicolor.

Solid, well made stuff with direction by Douglas Sirk that is better than the material.

7/10


Ballad of a Soldier (1959) - simplistic but very effective russian film set during the war. 19 yr old Alyosha barters away a medal for some time away from the front to visit his mother in his village.

Essentially a road trip film, which follows the usual structure of the naive young man learning about life, but the characters and performances are engaging and the scripting very intelligent.

Impressive stuff.

7.5-8/10


Rumble Fish (1983) - In his own words, 'an arty movie for teens' by Francis Ford Coppola. It's a fry cry from his four 70's masterpieces but its also a far cry from the series of duds he's more recently responsible for.

Its an adaptation of S.E Hinton's short novel about James Dean style rebellious teens withering away in a small pretty much dead town. Definitely style over substance, but its glorious style and Matt Dillon as the dumb younger brother idolising his older bother and Mickey Rourke as the older brother trying to shed his mythic gang image make for sympathetic characters.

6.5/10 

Advise and Consent (1962) - another fine movie from the great Otto Preminger, a political drama based around the nomination by the US president of a controversial new secretary of state. A somewhat predictable narrative follows involving dissenting senators, personal conflict and hidden secrets but its made more interesting with the shadow of McCarthyism hanging over the story.

It�s a bit too talky, actually probably far too talky for most, and also overlong at 138 min, but the cast including Charles Laughton and Henry Fonda is first rate and some of the dialogue, fantastic.

7.5/10


Dead Man's Shoes (2004) - rewatch, had forgotten how hilarious it was despite the main story.

Mentally impaired Anthony is subjected to humiliation and abuse by certain locals in his British Midlands town and eventually his older brother Richard, an ex-army soldier, returns to the town to punish those responsible.

Despite the straightforward narrative, Meadows avoids revelling in gratituous on-screen violence and instead works in a surprising amount of hilarious black comedy into the material before also managing to embue the last 20 min or so with genuine pathos. Helping him is an excellent performance from Paddy Considine as Richard, who manages to walk that careful tightrope of unpredictability very well.

7.5/10


Jekyll - BBC tv show/mini series that is a modern update of the famous story with numerous additions/twists to the source material, some good, and some eye rolling bad. When it works, it’s a deft mix of gothic horror and black humour and when it doesnt, its distractingly bad.

On the whole though, its fairly entertaining with some nice unexpected characterisations and story arcs and a solid performance from James Nesbitt in the main role.

6.5/10


Dogville (2004) - well, it's definitely different. I guess the biggest compliment I can pay its minimal Brechtian style (the whole film is done on a stage without any sets etc) is that you don’t really notice it after 10-15 min, which means its obviously successful in getting the viewer involved through the story and performances.

Length is definitely an issue, it overstays its welcome at 173 min, and some of the message preaching is a bit hypocritical but for the most part, the cast, characters, themes and plotting are very engaging and interesting.

7-7.5/10


Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) - apart from impressive performances from Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro, I found this to be fairly laborious, unfunny and repetitive tedium.

There are a couple of funny scenes but there are many more that are not.

4.5/10


High Noon (1952) - fairly impressive old school western that through its script, cinematography and direction manages to build up a fair amount of characterisation and tension, only to be let down by a bit of an anticlimactic ending and some rather mixed attempts at messages.

Still, it looks great and is paced beautifully.

7.5/10


Open Hearts (2002) - the first collaboration between Susanne Bier and Mads Mikkelsen and while it's not as great as After the Wedding, its still another fine intense drama with excellent performances and non-cliched scripting, albeit in the context of a manipulative, contrived story. Mikkelsen plays a doctor who forges a relationship with the girlfriend of a man who was run over by his wife, leading to complications for all involved. Bier employs a dogme style to cover the events, something which she has employed less and less in her more recent efforts, but it suits the material and is not overly distracting as other films in this style.

Hollywood remake by Zach Braff coming (I think almost all her movies are being remade).

7-7.5/10 

I havent seen all of the above but:

Dead Mans Shoes

I really liked this. Quite shocking really, but also a good anti-drugs film. Really makes you think about why not to become a druggie. Also why not to join the army and become 'capable' of such controlled anarchy.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

I LOVED this film. It's probably my favourite film. It is hilarious right from the start to the end. My favourite scene is the montage which brings you up to speed at the start - the road trip into Las Vegas, there Toby Maguire hitchhikes a ride with the two 'deprivates'. The part where you can see Depp muttering to himself, with a different voiceover, then the lips and narrative synchronise on the line "did I say that, or just think it?". I have never seen such an accurate portayal of the feeling of being in such a state.
This feeling of the films realism is mantained throughout the film. It is obvious that the story and characters are based on real-life experiences, rather that artistically licensed imagination.
I find myself enjoying this film for every scene. I also love the part with the car chase in the desert and the "unhinged" police officer (Trinca).

It is true, the film lacks direction, chaos insues well and truely towards the films "conclusion". Depp waking up in a hotel room which has been trashed. I have never seen such a mess before in all my life. He is wearing flippers, a six-foor rubber crocodile's tail (strapped to his arse) whilst lieing in an inflatable paddling pool with a tape recorded strapped to his chest. The moral is that if you do that stuff it WILL change you. 

Really didn't care for the preachiness of this film that conflated two 'messages'. Hell, one motif was better done and more understated in the recent Rambo flick (Christian Passivism being an unrealistic approach).

What stays with me in this film is the opening scene with the stark plains and the beautiful Tex Ritter ballade 'Don't Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin''. It exuded a perfect state of morose that was not easily matched in the live action and dialog scenes. 

Of High Noon written as a science fiction novella in the 1950's by Jack Vance titled 'The Moon Moth'. It is from an anarchist disposition. A marshal (another term is used, but pretty much the same thing) is assigned to a planet where the society is composed of individualist. He receives a death threat from a gang who is coming to settle a score. When he asks the natives for help, no one he asks even pretend to give a fuck whether he lives or dies and he is told that he put himself in the situation by accepting the official position in the first place, and it is no one's problem but his. In High Noon everyone comes up with excuses, but not here! Quite refreshing. 

headthump, agree on the 'messages', but I still quite liked it. 

The Last Wave (1977) - For those that found the unresolved, ambiguous nature of Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock to be frustrating, his followup film is likely to elicit the same response. But if, like me, you thought that aspect worked in the favour of that film, especially when combined with the mysterious and foreboding atmosphere that was prevalent throughout, you will find much to like here even though it's not quite on the same level of quality as PAHR.

The movie has three interconnected stories: Australia is experiencing strange weather with numerous hail/rainstorms, a Sydney lawyer is having strange dreams, and a group of Aboriginal men kill one of their own in a bar. By the end, the stories are linked, but not in any cohesive fashion, Weir choosing to raise new (and interesting) questions with his 'answers'. But, as mentioned above, I found that this approach added to the film given how much it relies on mysticism. What doesn�t quite work, though, are some of the subplots which seem to be last minute additions to add some dramatic weight but end up detracting from the interest of the main story and spectacularly strange and haunting imagery.

7/10


Red Road (2006) - impressive little psychological drama/thriller from Scotland that can be a bit slow at times but is otherwise very engaging and effective. The main character, Jackie, works as a security camera operator in Glasgow and from the lengthy opening sequence, you can tell she lives her life vicariously through those she observes. But when she sees someone from her past, it sets off an unnerving series of events dealing with obsession, memory and guilt.

The performances are strong across the board, the direction appropriately intimate and claustrophobic and although the ending is a little bit too pat (despite working reasonably well), the leadup is an unpredictable and confronting look at someone's internal hell.

7/10


I Live in Fear (1955) - Akira Kurosawa's most direct look at the effect of WWII on Japan with Toshiro Mifune playing an elderly man whose family is trying to have him declared insane for wasting the family savings on over the top plans to combat the effect of radiation fallout. But unlike Kurosawa's other films like The Bad Sleep Well and Stray Dog which look at post war japan indirectly but more effectively, this one ends up working more on the level of a dissection of family politics than as a commentary on post war Japan (even though it raises some interesting questions). Not that that's a bad thing in itself, Kurosawa's mastery is still present for the majority of the film and Mifune's strong presence dominates every frame he's in.

7/10


The Bridges of Madison County (1995) - overlong, but an otherwise excellent and low key drama from Clint Eastwood that, despite being very susceptible to it, manages to avoid the oversentimentality that's present in most of his recent films. Eastwood obviously recognised what he was onto, and that is Meryl Streep at the peak of her powers, and he wisely chooses to focus everything on her. Of course, he manages to himself play off Streep pretty well too, forming the interesting central relationship that is very important to the movie's success.

7.5/10


The Magician (1958) - probably one of Ingmar Bergman's most accessible movies that avoids his usual themes of god, religion and suffering. Instead we get a period piece that follows a famous travelling magician, Albert Vogler (Max Von Sydow), and the subsequent encounter between his troupe and the town authorities, including Dr Vergerus the physician, over the claimed legitimacy of their acts. The themes, therefore, shift towards science vs spirituality but Bergman adds in further intriguing complexity by making both Vogler and Vergerus very aware of the likely inaccuracy of each of the their own stances.

The result is a masterfully shot film with abrupt changes of genre that still seem to gel well together. Max Von Sydow again puts in a very commanding performance, which is especially noteworthy given that his character plays a mute in the film. The ending is not quite what I was expecting but otherwise its pretty impressive stuff.

7.5/10


Mad Max - here's some heresy, I thought that was atrociously bad. No idea how or why this put aussie film on the map, especially when Peter Weir was making genuinely great films at the same time.

3/10


Mad Max 2 - on the other hand, this should make 'best sequel' lists simply for being so much better than the first film. I'd bet the budget wasnt significantly bigger than last time but it's used a hell of a lot better, the vision of an apocalyptic future being more precise and realised.

Its also suitably exhilarating and restrained at appropriate times, but most importantly has neat characterisations that the first film seriously lacked.

7-7.5/10 

Oh, I didn't think of that angle in the Moon Moth. Rather thought about the clumsiness and lack of skill and knowledge of local extremely weird ways hindering the marshall from doing his job.

Being a criticism of many things of course. I guess when an organization or society grows, there are more and more people and processes put to only paying attention to the functioning of some small parts of it, lacking understanding of the greater goals.

It is a hard problem. 

Poor in every aspect... I watched it mainly because I like Ashton Kutcher, he was good but everything else was crap. The imdb comments is right except for the other girl being a completely fugly annoying slut:
Ashton Kutcher plays the usual role, Cameron Diaz looks good and acts bad as always, Rob Corddry is hilarious in a secondary role as Kutcher's bumbling lawyer friend and the very attractive Lake Bell provides some more wit as Diaz best friend. 

Billy Liar (1963) - british comedy/drama that works quite well. Tom Courtenay is excellent as Billy, a working class 19 yr old living with his family who is bored with his life and indulges in Walter Mitty type fantasies which also lead him to become a compulsive liar.

John Schlesinger has a great time with the fantasy sequences but its his skill in combining the comedy and drama that really makes the movie tick. The droll script is reasonably humorous with some great supporting characters and one liners.

7-7.5/10


The Red Balloon (1956) - Life in 34 min? Quite possibly the greatest short film of all (although Chris Marker's La Jetee also has a valid claim), Albert Lamorisse's allegorical tale of a young boy and the red balloon that follows him around Paris is a brilliant little film that is funny, touching and successfully manages to tackle some themes feature length films struggle to address.

Its almost a silent film, with very little dialogue, relying on the sheer force of its hypnotic imagery and Lamorisse's creative imagination.

8-8.5/10


Charlie Wilson's War (2007) - decent but surprisingly underwritten film which is really not satirical enough or serious enough to really work properly. Most of the fault lies in Aaron Sorkin's screenplay which supplies plenty of clever one liners but has almost zero characterisation and scratches the surface of some interesting issues without really going into them.

But its all entertaining enough thanks to some carefully toned performances from particularly Phillip Seymour Hoffman but also Tom Hanks and pacy direction from Mike Nichols.

6.5/10


Weeds Season 3 - its always been less clever than it thinks it is, but this season the writers completely dropped the ball. Someone seems to have made the decision that the best way to make the show funny is to simply increase the swearing and add more nudity. Someone also seems to have decided that the best way to add depth to the characters is to make them all total assholes this season.

Still above average because despite all the faults, the writing and acting are (just) above what you normally get on regular tv.

5.5-6/10


The World's Fastest Indian (2006) - Anthony Hopkins hasn�t been this entertaining since Silence of the Lambs or this good since Remains of the Day. It probably helps that he has a great character to play, NZ born Bert Munro who is single minded in his pursuit, and ultimate achievement, of breaking the land speed record on his old motorbike.

The movie's slightly overlong, 2 hrs plus being a bit much for Bert's roadtrip from NZ to the Bonneville salt flats in the US, but Hopkins' performance and some spot on direction from Roger Donaldson during the race sequences make it pretty engaging.

7-7.5/10


The Bank Job (2008) - decent, workmanlike heist thriller that never reaches any great heights, but is reasonably entertaining due to the 'based on reality' plot (not sure how many liberties were taken with it but its interesting nonetheless).

It suffers a fair bit from being just all plot and not having any focus on any real characterisation. Overall though, a competently made film that's worth a watch.

6.5/10


Daisy Kenyon (1946) - beautifully scripted, well performed and brilliantly directed melodrama from Otto Preminger. Henry Fonda, Joan Crawford and Dana Andrews all hold their own in reasonably complex characterisations in this very enjoyable love triangle story dressed up with film noir photography by Preminger.

It's a stroke of genius really, Preminger doing as much with the expressionistic use of light and shadow as the scripting in establishing interesting and multi dimensional characters. Falters a bit towards the end, but otherwise excellent stuff.

7-7.5/10


The Set Up (1949) - decent film noir from Robert Wise with Robert Ryan again excellent in playing a tortured character. Ryan plays Stoker Thompson, an over the hill boxer who causes things to go awry when he inadvertently wins against a much younger opponent. Great setting of mood and the first half is also particularly good at establishing some neat characterisations. Unfortunately, the second half is fairly predictable and not as strong in the script department despite Wise and Ryan's efforts.

I read somewhere that Sidney Lumet is planning a remake, would be very interested in seeing it.

6.5/10 

Love Street (2003) - above average french romantic fantasy by Patrice Leconte which is also short on characterisation but features some brilliant camerawork and also supermodel Laetitia Casta who you can stare at pretty much all day :)

Casta plays a 1940's french prostitute who is, you guessed it, looking for real love and doesn�t quite find it when she thinks she has because it was her best friend all along blah blah blah. Plot and character arent really the important thing here with Leconte going overboard with his production design and cinematography to create a world you are totally sucked into (but which unlike say Moulin Rouge isnt annoyingly in your face).

A better film should have been made to serve the visual side of things but I'd rather take this over most blandly shot movies any day.

6/10


Burn Notice Season 1 - decent, disposable entertainment that benefits from some droll humour and good performances. The show is about a 'burned' spy who has to resort to local PI jobs in Miami to get by, while still trying to find out the reason for being 'burned' in the first place. He gets some help from his ex-girlfriend who used to be an IRA member and another washed up spy who still has contacts.

Most the scripting is adequate enough without ever being anything great, but the main actors do pretty well with the material they have. It never has any real substance to be anything noteworthy but it is very watchable (although I don�t know how long you could really drag out the concept).

Also, most people probably wont be bothered by it, but I found the camerawork to be extremely haphazard and distracting.

6.5/10 

It's like Heavy Metal meets Tron meets Masters of the Universe. Pure retro 80's goodness.

http://www.vimeo.com/1456640 

http://www.peppermelon.tv/projects/ela.html 

 

hm. Mixed bag. Really not the 9.2 kiddies give it at imdb :)

I loved the joker, the acting, the costumes, the way it was staged (?)/ directed.

The camera/looks style of the movie was good, but it had a few points that broke it. It didn't REALLY came off as something that follows a real concept though, too much generic action movie stuff in between. (shiny skyscrapers, please...)

Story was meh; only served to provide interconnections between action sequences. I (and i wasn't the only from of my group) was bored during most of the slower non-joker parts, because there wasn't really anything in the plot that was interesting to follow. You either cared for the guys in danger or you didn't, and i mostly didn't (only for the joker of course!).

Fights: hm, maybe i don't get it, but batman martial art always looks so stupid :)

There were some weird cuts. especially the 'WOW BATMAN GONE WHEN I CUT AND CUTBACK AND BACK AGAIN' ones; i srsly hope those were references to earlier movies.

I'd probably rate it a 5/10 or so, with the best action movie ever at 7 or 8. 

they never explained anything about how somebody would find out where or when to go or how to get inside a guarded building. That's why they couldn't really have any better stuff in the plot than 'next action sequence'. The only time they tried, all they got was that hilarious 'cell sonar' stuff.

Lazy dumbass scriptwriters. 

Loved it, loved it. Loved it. Probably the best Batman ever, in my prejudiced opinion. You can rank me in with the kiddies, I suppose ;D

It did eschew a solid concept for characters, and really they were even more like themes themselves. Like musical motifs within a broad piece of music. It had a rhythm to it, and a pace -- which kind of explains the lack of details at times. But the characters ruled the day, and they were wonderful. The Joker was a complete psychopath, and was simply relating to who he saw was a kind of kin -- the Batman. We got to see the painful descent of Harvey Dent into Two-Face, and his redemption at the hands of the one man who wanted him most to succeed -- Bruce Wayne.

But yeah, it's really hard to see Bat-fisticuffs and not think of Adam West and the old TV show, and the cellphone thing was pretty James Bond, but it looked trippy as hell.

My full fanboy splurge on it is here: http://biff.quaddicted.com/?p=20 

surely Die Hard 1 or Indy 1 get more than that :)

I've seen a whole bunch of stuff, will post more comments later but here's a few to start of with.

Redbelt (2008) - David Mamet's latest is a competent film, let down by a poor ending and a plot that doesn't quite coalesce together as well as it should. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Mike Terry, a jujitsu practitioner and teacher who lives by his own code, one which relies on purity and morality and is out of touch with both the modern world and the martial arts world which revels in the money grabbing exercise of staged championships for mass consumption. And when Emily Mortimer's attorney accidentally walks into his training centre, things take a dramatic shift, drawing Mike into a world he does not want to enter and one which contrasts with his beliefs.

For about an hour, Mamet keeps you riveted with his trademark sharp dialogue and a very strong central performance from the always reliable Ejiofor. Then, cracks in the story begin to appear and they only widen as the movie hurtles towards what can best be described as a very unlikely climax. A disappointing end to what was otherwise quite a good film.

6/10


Onibaba (1964) - brilliant japanese 'horror' film that's not really scary in a general sense but is always constantly unsettling due to a feeling of otherworldly creepiness in just about every frame. Set in medieval Japan, it focuses on two women, a mother and her daughter in law, who have to resort to a life of finishing off and looting participants of war in order to trade and survive. The opening sequences are absolutely spectacular in terms of setting the mood and establishing character, all achieved without any dialogue and relying instead on music, sound and imagery to convey it. Then, the story takes a dramatic shift when the friend of the women's son/husband returns and interferes in their relationship.

Its great stuff, the first 15 min and the last 15 min being some of the best cinema you will ever see and the remainder still being top notch stuff despite the last act being a bit rushed and parts of the middle section also being slightly perfunctory.

8/10


The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) - how much someone likes this is going to directly depend on how much they like musicals. I don't really like them at all, so I don't think this is a great film but even I could see that if you do, this is probably one of the best of its kind. Jacques Demy's famous film shows a director in complete control of his material, even if its peculiar material where every bit of dialogue is sung but no one dances. I thought that if you werent into musicals that maybe you got used to the whole singing thing after 15 or so min, but you don't. So having non-stop singing for 90 min is either likely to enthral you or annoy you, without there being much middle ground.

But, what can be said is that Demy knows how to do his stuff and it looks great. It also has Catherine Deneuve, who could do wonders with even the plainest of roles and her acting once again stands out, even amongst all the singing and colours.

6/10


Scarlet Street (1945) - Fritz Lang's greatest american film and I personally even rate it above M. Lang utilises the same team as his earlier Woman in the Window, namely Edward G Robinson, Dan Duryea and Joan Bennett, but this time the movie is not compromised by a studio attached ending complying with the production code. Robinson is terrific as middle aged Christopher Cross, a self pitying working class cashier who is stuck with the most annoying wife imaginable and is hoping that someone else apart from her looks at him before he dies. Enter the characters of Duryea and Bennett who decide to use the situation to their advantage by stringing Cross along and swindling him in the process.

Its beautifully scripted, tautly directed and extremely well shot film noir.

8/10


Breaking and Entering (2006) - Anthony Minghella's most poorly received film and I don't really know why, I much prefer it to his more epic but hollow stuff. It's a very interesting look at multicultural England, in fact theme wise its much similar to Paul Haggis' Crash, but executed far more thoughtfully and convincingly. Its pacing is a bit off, the first 2/3 is a bit slow (despite always being interesting) and the last 20 minor so a bit rushed, but otherwise the screenplay is fairly well penned by Minghella with rich characterisations and interactions. Most the principal actors (jude law, juliette binoche and robin wright penn) acquit themselves fairly well but the casting for the smaller roles is also spot on with Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga and Martin Freeman also putting in excellent and memorable work. Farmiga and Winstone also provide some welcome humour to counter an otherwise serious narrative.

7.5/10 

Yeah, and I'd give The Predator a 10!

Nitin, will get Onibaba and Scarlet Street. How on earth do you get through so many movies Nitin? I try to watch a bit of a movie everynight before I go to bed, but usually only cover 2 or so per week. Just watched 3 J-Horrors, New Blood, Suicide Circle & Uzumaki.

New Blood
Quite scary for the first half, but the ghost came into the movie too often by the end and there ended up being some major holes. The big twist at the end was surprising, but left a bitter taste.

Uzumaki
Had some quite scary moments, take note Hollywood, but the main plot was poor; everyone wants to become a spiral. What the hell? Lame ending aswell.

Suicide Circle
Some of the scenes in this were quite memorable - in particular when several high school students suddenly decide, out of the blue, to commit suicide and they all jump off a school building. That's a scene I'll not soon forget. Interesting movie, and best of the bunch, but the plot was a little far-fetched. It was made at a time where suicides in Japan were occuring more and more often.

Currently trying to sit through the 3-hour slog of Kubrick's Sparticus. #211 on IMDB, but I'm not sure it really deserves that. 

9.3, word. 

I dont watch regular tv, just dvds. So in one night of about 2 hrs viewing, I get through either one film or 1-2 eps of a tv show (depending on the length).

And IMHO Spartacus is pretty average, heaps better Kubrick than that. 

Yeah Eyes Wide Shut and Dr Strangelove are masterpieces. 2001 I enjoyed twice, but would be a big undertaking to watch again - it's pretty long and dull by todays standards. Paths Of Glory & A Clockwork Orange were also very good. Hmm what else. The Shining & Full Metal Jacket I felt were a little overated but still decent. Barry Lyndon was one of the most boring movies I've ever seen. 

agree on strangelove and The Shining. Also rate 2001 and Paths of Glory very highly. Full Metal Jacket's terrible IMHO.

I recommend The Killing, brilliant stuff. 

Yeah The Killing is good too, though not very Kubrian. The sudden abrubt ending was interesting, and frustrating. I liked the lead characters performance in it. 

Mini reviews of last week's worth of viewing:

Persepolis (2007) - the abrupt ending stops it from being an instant classic but otherwise this is brilliant stuff. Equal parts funny and touching, Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical tale of growing up in (and out of) Iran during the 80's is a very distinct and personal film. The animation is technically adequate but the stark, expressionistic black and white style is used very very effectively to mesh with, and highlight, the material. You can also enjoy it on many levels, which is not something you can say about most films with a theme like this one.

7.5-8/10


Rogue (2007) - Greg McLean has a great horror film in him and although he hasn't quite got there yet (Wolf Creek,/b> just missed that mark due to second half predictability), the signs are good. This never attempts to be anything more than an entertaining B movie australian version of Jaws, and on that level it succeeds pretty well. Extremely well shot and with some very effective suspense sequences, one only wonders what can be done if McLean sets his aim a bit higher than simply making a genre picture.

6.5/10


Port of Shadows (1938) - Marcel Carne is most famous for the brilliant Children of Paradise, but that is reputedly only the last of what is considered a sequence of 6 classic films. This is the second in that series and while I cant say I thought it was anywhere near 'classic' level, it is an undeniably entertaining film despite some stilted scripting and acting.

6.5/10


Not One Less (2000) - Zhang Yimou's attempt at a neo-realist docudrama, complete with non professional actors and only location shooting, and its quite good. The movie follows the story of a 13 yr old girl who becomes a substitute teacher in rural China when the previous teacher has to leave for a month. What follows is an effective, if sentimental, look at the hardships and motivations in a survivalist world where your first instinct is just to watch out for yourself.

7/10


Morocco (1933) - early Josef von Sternberg/Marlene Dietrich collaboration and whilst it has moments of magic where Dietrich's screen presence is used to great effect, the bulk of it is a plodding, unconvincing and uninvolving love story.

5.5/10


Reconstruction (2003) - overly pretentious but still entertaining effort from danish director Christoffer Boe. Boe expressly announces to the audience at the start that what follows is 'not real and only a film, but that you will still care [about what happens to those involved]". From then on, he expertly manipulates and re-manipulates the audience time and again without caring to explain what it is that is going on. I suppose that is the point, as made at the start of the film, and while you do care about the characters to a certain extent, its still all a little underwhelming when none of it (deliberately) comes together at all.

6.5/10


Witness (1985) - never considered this to be top tier Weir but I warmed a little more to it this time around. I still think its an uncomfortable battle between two different films, both of which work reasonably well on their own but are less than the sum of their parts when combined. Still, worth a watch.

6/10


To Be or Not To Be (1941) - have never warmed to Ernst Lubitsch, until now. This is pretty hilarious stuff with some extremely clever and funny writing and top notch performances led by Jack Benny and Carole Lombard, a husband and wife acting duo on the polish theatrical scene just before WWII and who then become involved in political espionage during the war. Lubitsch carefully assembles his pieces at the start and then knocks them over again and again with great comedic effect as the movie continues.

8/10


The Quiet Duel (1949) - probably the least effective Kurosawa film that I've seen and even then it has moments of greatness thanks to a combination of immaculate composition and reliable performances from his staple cast of Toshiro Mifune and Takeshi Shimura. On the whole though, this attempt by Kurosawa to again indirectly explore post-war Japan is a fairly mundane and predictable melordrama.

5.5/10