What I've just watched

Finding Neverland 4/5

Gimli The Dwarf wrote:

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

It hasn't improved with time

X-Men 2





7/10

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Italian director Sergio Leone directed 5 Westerns in his time, and this one was his best. It's an engaging tale of greed, betrayal and trust set amongst the backdrop of the American Civil War. It has two men, Blondie (The Good, played with a cool exterior by Clint Eastwood), and Tuco, (The Ugly, played by Eli Wallach, stealing every scene he's in), who have an uneasy friendship/rivalry as they play off towns in a bounty hunting scam. But, they soon learn of a stash of gold buried in a Civil War graveyard from a dying man, captured in a Civil War Prison, they come across Angel Eyes, (The Bad, played with a mean ruthlessness by Lee Van Cleef), who was looking for the dead man, but he wants a piece of the buried gold too. This is probabily the greatest Western ever made, (Sam Peckinpah wouldn't have had his wave of cinematic violence without it), it's beautifully shot, with more than a few unconventional flourishes here and there, but it also retains a black sense of humour in it's brilliant dialogue. It's worth watching for Eli Wallach's double-crossing rat Tuco, he's so sneaky, but you can't help but like him, (why didn't he get an Oscar??) Clint is restrained, but shows a world-weary tenacity come the finale and battle sequences. The best Spaghetti Western ever made, with one of the best music themes to it's name by Ennio Morricone. It's times like these you wish you had someone like Leone still alive to make films like this. 5/5



Zodiac (2007), David Fincher returned to cinema after a 5 year gap, (it was worth it!!), with another serial killer film after Se7en (1995), but it's a serial killer film with a difference, we don't know who the killer is. The killer in question is The Zodiac Killer who stalked San Francisco in the late 1960's/early 1970's, and it focuses on cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), crime journalist Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) and cops Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards), trying to piece together a complex mystery, and succumbing to defeat, apart from Graysmith.Fincher creates a gripping and exciting thriller, different to other serial killer films, it requires your attention, but it's worth it!! Fincher takes the tired old serial killer genre, and reinvents it, as he did with Se7en (1995), Zodiac turns the whole genre, upside down, back to front and inside out, finding something new to tell. The film is designed to get audiences to think and debate on who the Zodiac Killer might have been, it's that sort of film. Plus, the leads by Gyllenhaal, Downey Jr. Ruffalo and Edwards are near flawless, plus the film has excellent if understated support from Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, John Carroll Lynch, Philip Baker Hall, John Getz and Charles Fleischer. It's authentic, obsessive but mesmerising and flawless, Fincher knows how to create a mood, as well as perfectly capture an era. The best film of 2007!! 5/5



Fight Club (1999). probabily one of the last great films of the 20th Century, a beautiful nihilistic assualt on an audiences sensibilities courtesy of David Fincher. Based on Chuck Palahniuk's brutal, satiric novel, it has insomniac office worker Jack (Edward Norton), whose life is getting him down, but he soon meets the enigmatic and anarchic Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), who is a soap salesman. The two very quickly become friends, and relieve their inner-tensions on the world and everything by punching each other, which soon becomes a local craze, which comes 'Fight Club', where men come to let it all out whilst fighting, then it extends into pranks on people in the outside world, and then, it gets alot more sinister. It's a very surreal and violent film, but the scariest thing is that it could actually happen!! Fincher paints a very real picture of modern life, and then deconstructs it. Pitt and Norton have never been any better, and there's good support from Helena Bonham Carter as the eccentric Marla Singer and Meat Loaf as cancer victim Bob. The film has got some of the best editing and visuals of any film in the last 10 years. It's evidence like this that Fincher needs to make more films, maybe not as brutal as Fight Club, but he's certainly a genius, and this is his masterpiece, (tied with Zodiac), we'll have to see what happens when The Curious Case of Benjamin Button comes along, his next film with Pitt... 5/5

Eastern Promises 3/5

I liked it. I didn't love it. Viggo Mortensen was excellent but I didn't especially think it was his best ever performance. I much prefer LOTR & AHOV.

Silver wrote:

Eastern Promises 3/5

I liked it. I didn't love it. Viggo Mortensen was excellent but I didn't especially think it was his best ever performance. I much prefer LOTR & AHOV.

That's what we like to hear!

Punch-Drunk Love (2002), a weird romance from Paul Thomas Anderson, starring a surprisingly restrained Adam Sandler!! In the film, Sandler plays Barry Egan, an emotionally repressed man who owns a novelty toilet plunger company and whose life is dominated by his 7 sisters. But, his emotions go all haywire when he meets Lena Leonard (Emily Watson), plus his life is in danger from sex-chat line owner Dean Trumbell (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and he's taking advantage of an airmiles offer. The film is a world away from the sprawling sagas of Magnolia (1999), and a contrast to the dark tale of greed of There Will Be Blood (2007), it's Anderson's most underrated film, it's a pleasent experience, punctuated by video art from Jeremy Blake, but it doesn't really go anywhere in particular, but it's short and sweet. 3/5



Dragonslayer (1981), an underrated but visually stunning mythical adventure from from director Matthew Robbins, (one of Coppola's best mates.) Set in Medieval Britain, it has a dragon stalking the kingdom, old wizard Ulrich (Ralph Richardson) is due to set out to go and kill the dragon, but he is killed before he can do it, so the task falls to his apprentice Galen Bradwarden (Peter MacNicol), who is inexperienced but confident that he can do it, but he had a dubious king to convince first. For it's day, it has some of the best special effects put to screen, plus it's well made, and got good locations, (North Wales looks lovely), there's not much else to it, but the dragon battles are suspensful enough, and it has a good score by Alex North. 4/5



Inland Empire (2006), David Lynch's first film since Mulholland Drive (2001), and although similiar in look and location, it's his most experimental film to date, yes, even more so that Eraserhead (1977). It has actress Nikki Grace (Laura Dern) who's been given a part in a film called 'On High in Blue Tomorrows', it's director, Kingsley Stewart (Jeremy Irons) reveals that the film is a remake of a Polish film that was never completed. From there-on-out, it all gets weird. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS FILM!? In comparison, all of Lynch's previous films make perfect sense!! It's very mysterious and disturbing, and it looks very giddy from it being shot on digital video. But, it does have a good supporting cast including Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Diane Ladd, William H. Macy, Grace Zabriskie, Julia Ormond, Mary Steenburgen and Naomi Watts. It's gonna need more than one viewing to make any sense of it, looks good though... 4/5



Popeye (1980), Robert Altman's maddest film, based on the highly popular cartoon series, and made with half the crew on drugs, it's an acquired taste of film. Set in the seaside town of Sweethaven, it had Popeye (Robin Williams), arriving to the town by dingy, looking for his long-lost father, Poopdeck Pappy (Ray Walston), he finds lodgings at Oyls' boarding house, where he falls for their daughter, Olive Oyl, (Shelley Duvall), much to the ire of her bullying boyfriend Captain Bluto (Paul L. Smith). Normally, live-action versions of cartoons don't work, but this does. It captures the tone of the comic strip the the original cartoon shorts were based on. The whole town is a tourist attraction in Malta now, but the film is beautifully shot by Giuseppe Rotunno, with songs provided by Harry Nilsson, it's a film well worth a reappraisal. 4/5

There Will Be Blood (2nd view) – Loosely based on the Upton Sinclair novel Oil, Paul Thomas Anderson’s fifth film, sees Daniel Day-Lewis play Daniel Plainview, a silver miner turned oil baron at the turn of the 20th century. There’s little story as such, and at over two and half hours, it takes its time in telling the slight tale, but overall it’s nothing short of a masterpiece. Day-Lewis is phenomenal in the central role, at times earning your sympathy, yet makes you change your opinion just seconds later. Rarely has such an enigmatic character been so vividly brought to life. He’s almost matched by Paul Dano, a faith healer who becomes the bane of Plainview’s life. The film looks magnificent, barely a shot is wasted, and there’s a strangely hypnotic score by Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood. I still think that the excellent final 20 minutes seems odd by comparison to the rest of the film, almost as if a 10 minute segment is missing which would help us move into the final chapter. Not a huge problem though, as there’s so much to applaud otherwise. Comparisons with Citizen Kane seem unfair, this is so much better – 5/5





A Bucket Of Blood (1st view) – A low budget 60s horror comedy from king of the cheap thrill films, Roger Corman. Dick Miller (perhaps best known nowadays as Mr Futterman from the Gremlins films) plays Walter Paisley, a busboy and aspiring sculptor who is looked down upon by the patrons and workers of the café at which he works. One night he accidentally kills his cat, and decides to cover the cat in clay and pass it off as a piece of original art. When people like his work, he moves onto bigger things, killing people and then covering them in clay. It’s terrifically bad, useless as a horror film, poorly acted by everyboby but there is some deal of satirical fun to be had. Worth watching for a laugh – 3/5





The Man Who Planted Trees (1st view) This adaptation of the story by French author Jean Giono is a 30 minutes animation that won an Oscar back in 1987. It tells the tale of a man, Elzéard Bouffier, who, over the course of 35 years, transforms a desolate wasteland in the French Alps into a huge, luscious forest. There is no dialogue. Instead, the entire story is told via the narration of an unnamed man, who befriends Bouffier and visits him numerous times over the years. It is, quite simply, one of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen. The narration is provided by Christopher Plummer who is absolutely pitch-perfect, the story is both inspiring and heart-warming, and it contains some of the most stunning animation I’ve ever seen. Simply brilliant and a must watch– 5/5





Pathology (1st view) - Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli from Heroes) plays med student Ted Gray who joins a pathology program at a prestigious hospital. Fellow student Micheal Weston has devised a deadly game for him and his colleagues to play: see who can commit a murder so perfect that the others cannot discover the cause of death. It’s a neat idea but poor in exection, with a whole host of unsympathtic characters and a warped sense of justice. Thrills go out of the window, and it seems more intent on showing the gory side of such procedures – 2/5





I Am Legend (2nd view) – I saw this at the cinema and greatly enjoyed it, and I enjoyed just as much on a second viewing. Fair enough, the “darkseekers” look exceptionally useless in all their CGI glory, but there’s much to applaud here, not least a very fine turn from Will Smith. He’s an actor I’ve always liked and he once again proves himself to be highly watchable with great screen presence. The scenes of a desolate New York a magnificent, and there are one or two moment of great suspense, The first half is the better half, it loses its game near the end, but overall it’s a winner – 4/5




The Beast Of Yucca Flats (1st view) – Dear Poppites, I have a task for you all. If you will, create in your minds the most drivel-laden preposterous piece of modern Hollywood horror/thriller you can think of. Throw in half a dozen or so of the worst actors you’ve ever seen, add the most adburd narration possible and lavish it with an obtrusive score. Then remove about 95% of the budget and throw in the worlds most useless gunfight (one in which the sound effects don’t add match the onscreen action) Lastly, imagine this concoction to be 20 times worse. You might, just might, be about halfway to reaching the sheer awfulness of this 60s horror.

It stars Tor Johnson as a scientists who turns into a lumbering killer following exposure to a nuclear blast (For those who have seen Plan 9 From Outer Space, or the Burton./Depp film Ed Wood, you have an idea of the “acting” on display here). As he wanders the desert killing folk he’s pursued by two policeman. That’s about it really. There is little dialogue, mainly told via narration, What dialogie there is is only spoken when the characters are off screen or have their faces obscured. It’s indescribably awful. It’s also a whole lot of fun. I don’t know if it’s a work of genius. It deserves 0.5 of a star, but I want to give it more for comic value. I’ll be generous – 2/5

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), based on a novel by John Godey, and directed by Joseph Sargent. This is a taut and suspenseful crime thriller in which a group of men codenamed by colours, led by Blue (Robert Shaw) and Green (Martin Balsam) hijack an underground train in New York, (the train is the titular Pelham 1-2-3), and demand a ransom for the passengers. If the money is not delivered by their set deadline, they'll start murdering the hostages one by one. Meanwhile, Police Lt. Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) who works for the police's transit division, has to negotiate with the criminals, and convince the city's mayor to give in to their demands. It's a very gripping thriller, with some good performances to it's name, it's well made and captures the era well too. Currently being remade by Tony Scott, this is the original and best, and a certain QT nicked the idea of the colour-coded named criminals for his debut film, yes, it is influential... 4/5

At Close Range (1st view) - Christopher Walken leads a gang of career criminals, and one day his estranged son Sean Penn decides he would like to be involved. When Penn gets arrested things gradually begin to fall apart. Both leads are good enough, but it never really grips as it shoudl and is has an awful electronio score and an even worse theme song by Madonna - 3/5

Michael Clayton 4/5

Nicola wrote:

Perfume The Story Of A Murderer



-1/10

Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1st view) - Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha - 1/5

Shattered Glass
Surprisingly good and Hayden Christansen isnt half bad!! 4/5

Predator 2
Not as good as the first, but in no way terrible 3/5

A Perfect Murder 4/5

Gimli The Dwarf wrote:

Nicola wrote:

Perfume The Story Of A Murderer



-1/10

Sorry, but I really didn't enjoy it. I thought the ending was awful.

Air Force One 5/5

Outstanding! One of my favourite action movies, I never fail to get completely caught up in the story. Harrison Ford excels as the president and is well supported by some familiar names, stand outs for me being William H. Macy and Glenn Close. Great music too!

Nicola wrote:

Sorry, but I really didn't enjoy it. I thought the ending was awful.

True, the ending was completely barmy, quite a letdown, but I did pretty much love every up until the last 20 minutes.

Silver, great film! Hugely enjoyable.

Gimli The Dwarf wrote:

Nicola wrote:

Sorry, but I really didn't enjoy it. I thought the ending was awful.

True, the ending was completely barmy, quite a letdown, but I did pretty much love every up until the last 20 minutes.

I liked it, even the ending. It was like something out of a Ken Russell film, and speaking of Ken...

Valentino (1977), after the success and excess of Tommy, Ken Russell (almost) went to Hollywood with this trashy, tabloid screen biopic, and it nearly killed his career in the process!! Done with a structure like Citizen Kane, it starts off at a New York funeral home where silent screen star Rudolph Valentino, (played by ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev), lies in state, the women of his life, including movie executive June Mathis (Felicity Kendal), his first wife Jean Acker (Carol Kane), Russian actress Alla Nazimova (Leslie Caron) and his second wife Natacha Rambova (Michelle Phillips) reveal to reporters what they remember about Valentino, and his life and times, and his sexual exploits and his ups and downs in Hollywood. True, the film takes alot of artistic liberties with Valentino's life, (alot of the stuff in the film never actually happened.) Ken had a bad time whilst shooting it, he and alot of critics may hate it, but time has been kind to this screen biopic, it may not be Uncle Ken's best film, but it was perfect material for him, what he did for his composer biopics, he does here for a legend of the silent screen. Nureyev may be wobbly as an actor but boy!! He can sure dance!! 4/5



NEED I SAY ANY MORE ABOUT KEN RUSSELL'S GENIUS!!??

Monday night-
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?
Amusing and thought provoking documentary 4/5

Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace 4/5

The Graduate (2nd view) – It’s been a good few years since I first saw this film, but happily I found it just as amusing and poignant second time round. In just his second film performance, Dustin Hoffman excels as Benjamin Braddock, the graduate of he title, , and showed himself to be a talent to keep an eye on. Equally impressive are Anne Bancroft and Katharine Ross, as the mother and daughter who Braddock falls for. Mike Nichols directs with flair (there’ some mightily impressive camerawork) and the Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack seems to perfectly capture he mood of the era. Excellent stuff – 5/5




R-Point (1st view) – During the Vietnam war, a group of South Korean soldiers are sent on a mission to an abandoned French plantation, R-Point, in order to discover what happened to a platoon of soldiers that went missing 6 months earlier. It isn’t long before people start disappearing, ghosts starts appearing and all hell breaks loose. There’s a decent sense of “lost in the wilderness” atmosphere but for a horror film it lacks one major ingredient, any decent scares and, come the finale, it all gets a tad confusing – 3/5




Dementia 13 (1st view) – The first mainstream film from director Francis Ford Coppola, produced by Roger Corman. The plot concerns a young woman, Louise Haloran, whose husband dies of a heart attack. Knowing that she won’t get any inheritance from his wealthy family, she dumps his body in a lake, fabricates a fictional business trip for her husband and visits the family at their castle in Ireland to try and get into their good graces. There is an air of gloom when she arrives, as every year at this time the family pay tribute to the youngest daughter who died seven years earlier. Particularly affected is the mother, Lady Haloran. Soon after, a mad axeman starts killing people off. And that’s pretty much it. It’s worth watching to see how Coppola went from cheap B-movies such as this to his glory days in the 70s, but overall there’s not much to recommend bar a few cheap thrills – 2/5




Nazty Nuisance (1st view) – Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Japanese general Suki Yaki head off to the island of Norom to sign a treaty. Meanwhile, some shipwrecked US soldiers find themselves on the island, and work up a plan to capture the three leaders and take them back to the Allies. The bloke who played Mussolini both looked and sounded like Marlon Brando (better than him as well!) and Hitler is especially played as a buffoon (Bobby Watson apparently played him in a dozen or so films) and I can only suppose that the jokes on show here did their job back in 1943, but it lacked laughs, a big no-no for a comedy (Though there was one bit, about a spy from Mint, that made me chuckle. A Mint spy! Geddit? Oh well) – 2/5

The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragom Emperor (1st view) - Well,I loved it. I'm a huge fan of the previous films (even The Scorpion King) but I was unsure of what to expect here. Thankfully though, I had a ball. Yes, I know it isn't a great film by any standards, but I had a great time watching it, and that's what counts here. Really, the only downside to it was Maria Bello and her ever-changing accent. A fine actress but a poor show here. Other than that - Fraser and Hannah, mindless action, bombastic music and a host of CGi nonsense - just enjoyable hokum in its purest form. Roll on part 4! - 4/5

No Reservations (1st view) - You know where you stand with romantic comedies. A mismatched couple meet, one (or both) annoys the other but they gradually fall for one another, then fall out, only to get back together right near the end. It happens pretty much all the same, and I'm a sucker for them! I'm not the biggest fan of Catherine Zeta-Jones, she tends to annoy me and she did here, but at least we have the wonderful Aaron Eckhart. I've always liked him (ever since seeing him play the thoroughly horrible Chad in In The Company Of Men) and the film is best when he's on screen. Abigail Breslin also does well as the niece of Zeta-Jones, who she has to live with after her mother dies. It's a decent attempt to give the film a bit more depth, but the balance between the serious and the light-hearted never quite works. Still, it's an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes (though it is easily the lesser of the two big kitchen-based films released in 2007) - 3/5