Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) � taut, tense, character driven drama-thriller with Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan about a one armed man who arrives in a remote and tiny american town that is hostile towards any visitors. The plotting's a little dated now but everything else about this film from John Sturges is exemplary.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047849/

7.5/10


The International (2009) � decent conspiracy thriller starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. Its not very original in terms of themes but the performances are good, the pacing is spot on, there is actual suspense and its phenomenally shot. Director Tom Tykwer appears to be struggling between making a more realistic thriller and delivering a mainstream blockbuster at the same time, but overall there's more good here than bad.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963178/

6.5-7/10


Marked Woman (1937) - horribly dated "gritty" crime-courtroom drama with an uninterested Humphrey Bogart and a completely miscast Bette Davis. I couldn�t find any redeeming qualities in this dud.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029217/

3.5-4/10


The Return (2003) - amazing debut film from russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev whose love for perfectly planned compositions and slow tracking shots is reminiscent of his other russian namesake filmmaker, the great Andrei Tarkovsky. And like Tarkovsky, this movie has imagery that burns itself into your memory and an ending that may or may not alter everything that went before.

The father of two boys, who has been absent from their lives for 12 years, surprisingly returns and decides to take them on a fishing trip to try and reforge a bond with them. There is not much more plot than that and it is admittedly slow but there is a lot of wonderful characterisation, a lot of devastating emotion, fantastic acting and the imagery mentioned above.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376968/

7.5-8/10


Stardust Memories (1980) - Woody Allen's version of Federico Fellini's 8 1/2. So instead of getting a crazy, oblique and disjointed trip into Fellini's head, we get one into Allen's.

I've never been a big fan of 8 1/2 which is only really interesting if you are interested in Fellini himself. And it�s the same case here, unless you really want to know about Allen's life, loves and inspirations, most of this is not all that interesting beyond the amazing camerawork. I say most, because like 8 1/2, there are a handful of scenes that are very funny and a couple of others that are quite poignant regardless of your interest in the director.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081554/

5.5/10


Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (2008) - above average bollywood romantic comedy that is actually watchable thanks to its charming, if amateurish, leads and some half decent writing. Unfortunately its far too long for the lightweight fluff that it still makes for a pleasant distraction.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473367/

5.5-6/10


The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) - not one of Sam Peckinpah's best films but still a pretty good one. The opening half an hour is brilliant as Jason Robards' hobo is left for dead in the middle of a desert and accidentally stumbles upon a water spring and decides to profit from the situation by creating a water station on a popular travel route. Peckinpah is at his best during this section of the film, objectively filming the harsh realities of life in the old west but with an admiration of the courage that went with it. However, its not quite so good once a love story is introduced or when it veers off into a revenge tale in the last act.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065446/

6.5/10


The Hangover (2009) - above average comedy that runs out of steam well before the rubbish ending but is kept afloat most the way by a fine ensemble cast that have great chemistry between them.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1119646/

6/10 

I really like Clive Owens movies on the whole, but this just bored me. I tried to watch it twice, but its just not very engaging and actually sent me to sleep once. Booooo! 

I prefer this to the usual action stuff I guess. 

Just saw this. I thought it was pretty awesome in it's genre. It promises a cheesy soppy sci-fi spectacle and woe betide you if you expect anything else because it delivers pretty much the pinnacle of that in cinema so far. Basically lots of fancy shit, laid over an entirely generic story - you can't polish a turd but if you gild it enough you can make it look pretty damn cool.

Score: higher than nitin's / 10 

I saw it in 3D at Imax which obviously means I got the full benefit of that fancy shit.

And yes I would bang the princess woman, and yes I want a hammer head rhinocerous. 

As much as I loathe to say this, I pretty much agree with Shambler. The film oozes polish and love, and that's why I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The 3D effects weren't really utilized that well, and with the glasses the movie looked way too dark. 

but why does it have to be cheesy? Star Trek (review coming) proved you dont have to be totally dumb to make a sci fi spectacle.

Anyway, what do I know, it will be the biggest movie of all time in a few days. 

They just steal Cartman's Smurfs return to fern gulley idea?

Spose will have to see it now. 

Lowest common denominator, appeal to the herds. But yes then again Star Trek was a little bit better.

It's a disease of cinema / blockbusters in general... 

Anyone seen Moon? I really enjoyed it, need more SF like this in cinema, and less crazy aliens with laser guns (or bow and arrows).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twuScTcDP_Q 

Also,

http://media.noob.us/avatarpocahontas.jpg

:D 

hopefully arriving tomorrow so that I can watch on the weekend. It looks a little bit 2001 and a little bit Solaris. 

I caught it completely by accident while in New York, which was very nice, because it never got a proper theater release here.

Very good, very highly recommended. 

Yeah, it's a bit of both, but not quite like either in the end, which is good (both of those are in my favorite movie list, I'm a sucker for SF), can't say more or I'd be spoiling.

Vig yeah I waited a long time for it to come out here (usually most movies get at lease a small release in Paris), but it never came out. Would have really liked seeing it at the cinema. =\ 

Avatar = Pocahontas bis.... 8|

Damned.. I was about to go seeing it at the cinema.. you just ruined my evening :( 

Wtf are you chatting about? Star Trek was horrible. And got worse the longer you sat through it... At least Avatar has amazing CGI 

"Damned.. I was about to go seeing it at the cinema.. you just ruined my evening :("

There are 7 stories in the world. You've seen them all by now. Don't worry about it. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Star Trek, I thought it was fast paced and it brought me into the world.

I haven't seen Avatar, and I don't plan to. I am not one who generally gets excited about pure CGI movies (Transformers, ahem) and if the story doesn't look all that good I will probably not bother watching it. 3D effects or not. 

Star Trek = 6/10 maybe 7 

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/transformers-2-10-things-i-liked-5-i-didnt.php 

The Transformers movies were atrocious. Just horrible. I can't believe anyone but the most hardcore fanboy would like them. 

The reason Michael Bay is such a shitty director isn't because Transformers are movies aimed at kids. It's because he is a shitty director. There's no substance to his movies, and even what he claims to do well, action, is pretty non-engaging and formulaic. Big budget movies where nothing really happens, and even the explosions are a chore to get through. 

I dont think its the story that's lacking, theres been many many successfull riffs on the pocahontas story, but the execution.

Michael Bay action scenes are ok sometimes, the problem is he knows only one way to shoot them, most the time so close to the action that you cant really tell or care whats going on, especially with the subwoofer going beserk to drown your ears at the same time. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony 

I actually find his older films are better... I really enjoyed The Rock, it was a very solid action film!

As for his newer stuff, I also really enjoyed The Island, and I think it got unfairly written off as a "Bay movie" without people giving it a fair chance. Its by no means perfect, and the constant product placement will drive a few people nuts, but the story and characters are a lot deeper than any of his other films that I can think of.

Moon, looks good Bal! Thanks for linking.