What I've just watched

Gimli The Dwarf wrote:

Silver wrote:

The Bourne Identity 5/5

I love this! Matt Damon is perfect as Bourne and is well supported by the rest of the cast. Great action and great music, if LOTR counts as one this would be my third favourite film of the decade so far.

What's your second favourite?

That would be Master and Commander The Far Side Of The World


Last night I watched

The Bourne Supremacy 5/5
Brilliant but for me not quite as good as Identity, I'd love to know what Doug Liman would have done if he'd stayed in the directors chair.

Master and Commander is superb!

Don, I'm not even sure if I've heard of Zachariah but I sure want to watch it now.

Watching:

Pixar Story... excellent so far 5/5

The Bourne Ultimatum 5/5

First time I've seen this since the cinema almost exactly a year ago and I enjoyed it far more this time. It would have been my most anticipated film of last year and I reckon I spent to much time thinking about the film instead of just watching it. Great way to round off the trilogy.

Michael Clayton (1st view) - The first film I've seen in a while thanks to the Olympics. Tony Gilroy, writer of the Bourne films, delivers a thoughtful thriller that is never less than engaging. I've always liked George Clooney and he once again proves highly watchable. Tilda Swinton also makes an impression, though I don't think either of them deserved Oscar recognition. The best actor on show is Tom Wilkinson, who simply excels in all his scenes. Things get wrapped up a bit too neatly, and there's one coincidence too many, but this is very good overall. Oh, and it also features one of the best death scenes I can recall seeing in any film - 4/5

Dark Knight IMAX- WOW 5/5

Wake Up Ron Burgundy- Very very funny sequel-ish 4/5

Hellboy 3/5

The Faculty 3/5

Blade II 3/5

Talk Radio 4/5

Black Sheep (1st view) - Ha, what an insane film! Genetic experiements go awry and create a bunch of man-eating sheep, plus humans who turn into sheep! Completely insnae and ridiculously gory. It reminds me an awful lot, in both humour and content, to Peter Jackson's Braindead, albeit slightly more polished (the make-up and effects actually came from Weta Workshop). Dodgy acting and writing all adds to the enjoyable hokum. Far from a masterpiece, but more fun than it probably should be - 3/5

Ask The Dust (1st view) - Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek star in this adaptation of John Fantes's novel, directed and written by Chinatown's screenwriter, Robert Towne. Farrell plays a struggling author in 30s Los Angeles who meets and fall in love with Hayek's Mexican waitress. Both leads do well enough but their relationship is completely unbelievable, Eileen Atkins and Donald Sutherland both pop up and are utterly wasted, and the whole thing turns into a tiresome bore - 2/5

Goya's Ghosts (1st view) Milos Forman, oscar winning director of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, gives us this tale set in Spain in the late years of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Stellan Skarsgård stars as Francisco Goya, an artist whose depictions of the church in his work lead to investigation by Brother Lorenzo (Javier Bardem). Meanwhile, Goya's muse Inés (Natalie Portman) is wrongly imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition. It's quite a bleak film, but never less than engrossing, a fictional story set against the backdrop of the French revolution and Napolean's invasion of Spain.

I'm not the biggest fan of Portman but she does well here (maybe period films are her forte, as she also impressed me in The Other Boleyn Girl). Stellan Skarsgård is on fine form also, but best of all is Bardem. Lorenzo is a character that is initialy easy to hate, but he walks a fine line throughout the film, and Bardem plays him beautifully, incredibly smug, pious and caring all at once. Bardem's long been a favourite of mine, and it's something of a shame that many people will only tend to recall him from No Country For Old Men, as good as he was, he's been better a few times and I think this is one of them. Overall, quite excellent - 4/5

Don't Mess with the Zohan

I'm afraid that I'm not the world's biggest Adam Sandler fan. He's just not my kind of humour! I love slapstick silly humour (Monty Python, Ace Ventura, Austin Powers, Dodgeball to give random different examples), but I actually found this film quite uninteresting to watch. I did chuckle at some bits, as I do in almost all comedy films, but all in all, not for me! Very vague review, but that sums it up really!

2/5

Hellboy: Director's cut (5th view) - I gave this a rewatch in preperation for seeing the sequel tomorrow. and it is, quite simply, one of the most enjoyable comic book adaptations I've seen. Guillermo Del Toro distinct visual flair works wonders for the film, and Ron Perlman is perfect as the title character, who is himself a wonderful creation. The presence of the always watchable John Hurt benefits the film, there's a nice score Marco Beltrami and fishman Abe Sapien is a great sidekick. It's my first viewing of the director's cut and in truth none of the additions are noteworthy, but they don't detract from the overall experience. Very good - 4/5

O Lucky Man! (1973), Lindsay Anderson follows up If.... (1968), with this oddball but ultimately pleasing comic musical fantasy, which is probabily one of the best British films of the 1970's. It has Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, (the same character from If....), now working for a coffee company, and is given the opportunity to sell coffee to mayor companies throughout the North East of England, but Mick gets involved in weird and wonderful exploits that send his life in all different directions. Even though made in the 1970's, this is a film that has not aged, nor will it, it still feels relevent today as it did then, it's a biting satire on a capitalist society, and how it affects people's life for worse and for better, McDowell is one of the best actors in cinema, and one of the most criminally underrated. He's complimented in this by a BRILLIANT supporting cast including Ralph Richardson, Arthur Lowe, Dandy Nichols, Warren Clarke, Bill Owen, James Bolam, Geoffrey Palmer, Brian Glover and Helen Mirren!! But, the icing on the cake for this scumptious film is the music score and songs by Alan Price, which are worth it for the film alone. The film might be nearly 3 hours long, but mark my words, it's worth every minute!! You must see it!! 5/5

Kenny



Halfway through I thought it was rubbish, but it got abit better and was quite a touching film. A few giggle out loud moments. 5/10

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (1st view)

SPOILERS

I liked it a great deal, but I think I prefer the first one.

Although there are some great moments of humour (the locker room and drunken song especially) a lot of the one liners fell flat, which is a shame as almost of Hellboy's retorts worked in the first film.

I also wasn't fond of the troll market. It was exceptionally show-offy, which would have worked had all the characters looked spectacular, but I don't think they did. The wide range of effects used should be applauded, but things like the tumour baby, cathedral head and the like, a lot of them just screamed "bloke in a suit", even if they were obviously a lot more than that. Same with the rather pointless goblin at the end. I also wanted some more of a resolution to Abe's storyline.

And why, oh why did they almost pull an Anakin Skywalker and destroy Hellboy by showing him as a kid?!

Still, Krauss was a nice new addition, the Angel of Death and Wink both looked spectacular, as did the Golden Army itself. I also liked the Forest God and the accompanying fight, I did enjoy most of the action scenes really.

When it worked it worked wonderfully, and none of the faults come close to ruin the film, just a few aspects I'm not too keen on. 4./5 overall.




As an aside, I like the fact that the cast names don't appear on any poster at all, just like the first film.





Yellow Submarine (1st view)

I don't think the right words exist to explain this film! - 4/5

Goldfinger (1964), the 3rd and most famous James Bond film of them all, Sean Connery oozes with charm, wit and physical prowess as 007 goes after crooked international jeweller and gold magnate Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), who has been smuggling gold illegally. It takes him from Miami to England to Switzerland then onto Fort Knox, Kentucky, where Goldfinger has a masterplan known as Operation Grand Slam. Alot of people like this Bond film as it's got what we've come to expect from them, the gadgets, a good villian and an unforgettable girl in the form of pilot Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman). This is also the one with Shirley Bassey belting out the dynamite theme tune, the gadget-laden Aston Martin DB5 and Ken Adam's jaw-dropping vision of Fort Knox. 24 Carat Bond indeed... 5/5

Hellboy



Loved the character of Hellboy 9/10

Get Smart (2008), the big screen version of the 1960's American spy spoof sitcom created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. The film version has bumbling agent Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell), who works for secret organisation CONTROL, who becomes Agent 86, and is teamed up with the more compentant Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), to battle the forces of terrorist organisation KAOS, led by Siegfried (Terence Stamp), which takes them to Russia and onto an explosive finale in Los Angeles. It's a good spy spoof, better than alot of recent attempts like Johnny English, when it's funny, it's very, very funny, and there are enough funny bits to keep you entertained. It's got a good supporting cast too, including Alan Arkin, Dwayne Johnson, James Caan, Patrick Warburton, Ken Davitian, Masi Oka (Hiro from Heroes) and Bill Murray!! 3/5



The NeverEnding Story (1984), based on Michael Ende's children's book, and brought vividly to life by Wolfgang Petersen. This fantasy adventure has Bastian (Barret Oliver), who after running away from bullies, comes across a book which tells the story of the beautiful yet doomed land of Fantasia, whose future is in danger from 'The Nothing', and whose princess is unwell. Fantasia's only hope is boy warrior Atreyu (Noah Hathaway), as he travels to save Fantasia, Bastian comes to realise he's more involved in the story than he thought he was!! It's a wonderful piece of fantasy, with some wonderful imagery and brilliant creatures like Falkor the luckdragon and Rockbiter the stone giant. It's also an upsetting film, (the Swamps of Sadness stand out), but Petersen shows an amazing knack for fantasy, (to think this was his follow-up to Das Boot!! ), it's a pity he's never tried anything similiar. Oh, and little bits were done in Gastown, Vancouver!! 5/5

Into The Wild 4/5

Looks gorgeous and has a fine soundtrack. Great leading performance by Emile Hirsch who is well supported by the rest of the cast, particularly enjoyed Hal Holbrooks role. At times a little slow, but the kind of film where that's a compliment.

Mr Woodcock (1st view) – I often wonder (been doing that lot recently) what makes certain actors take on certain roles. Billy Bob Thornton played a right old grumpus in Bad Santa, practically the same role again in baseball film The Bad News Bears, then yet another sports films with Friday Night Lights, then he stayed with sports and went back to being a grump with this film. Anyway, that's all beside the point. It's something of a shame to see Thornton and Susan Sarandon appearing in this throwaway comedy, as they are both capable of so much more. Still, there are a few hearty chuckles to be had along the way as Thornton goes about belittling former pupil Sean William Scott – 3/5



Cleaner (1st view) – I often wonder (been doing that a lot recently) why some films go straight to DVD when other, far worse, films get massive releases. Fair enough, this film isn’t a masterpiece but it has some big names and a recognisable director (Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, Eva Mendes, Renny Harlin). Jackson plays a former policeman who now owns a cleaning business, and a large part of his job is to clean up crime scenes. After one job he realises he’s being set-up for a crime and asks his cop buddy Harris for help. Nothing brilliant and it’s quite predictable, but no worse than many films that hit the big screen – 3/5

Blood Diamond (2nd view) - There was a time when I didn't like Leonardo DiCaprio all that much, but over the last 6 years or so he's impressed me in pretty much every film he's been in. This film is no exception, in which he plays a cold-hearted diamond smuggler in search of a diamond that could make his fortune. Jennifer Connelly also does well, but best of all is Djimon Hounsou, who once again gives a solid yet understated performance of a man filled with honour. Directed by Edwick Zwick, it gets a bit preachy at times, the sentiment is never quite as believable Zwick's Glory, but he knows how to tell a story and stage an action scene - 4/5

The Painted Veil (1st View) - I'd seen the trailer for this on what seemed like the majority of recent rental DVDs I've had, but it didn't make any impact when it was released in the cinemas. However, having recently become a mega fan of Edward Norton (considering him good but unexciting previously), I had to give it a watch! It's very atmospheric, and set beautifully in the depths of China where the newly married couple are settling down with Norton as a doctor/research scientist. The acting of both Edward Norton and Naomi Watts is flawless, but neither of the characters are likeable or particulary appealing. Norton is very stiff and proper, but unreadable in some parts, which causes a problem in the more emotional parts (it starts with an affair by Naomi Watts after all). Once Watts is swept off to a cholera-ridden town where Norton has volunteered to be the doctor, it becomes predictable. However, although feeling that the film was average on finishing it, after a day of refelction, it's left a deeper impression than I thought. 3/5

Charlie Wilson's War 4/5

As you would expect a superb screenplay from Aaron Sorkin, full of witty dialogue. Philip Seymour Hoffman got a lot of the best lines and he delivered them brilliantly, Tom Hanks was very good as well. Julia Roberts not quite so good, her character was a bit annoying and had very weird hair I thought!

Nicola, I saw that years ago. It was quite bad from what I remember.


Maddy, have you read the book? I did a long, long time ago, but I can't remember much at all about it. I did like the film though. As you say it does look lovely and both leads are very good, though I think the music might have been my favourite aspect.