Twilight Samurai
Brilliant film, a drama not an action flick and all the better for it.  It interestingly recreates the life of a low level Samurai when conflict has calmed.  While the end of the West films portray rebel cowboys trying to find a place in an increasingly lawful land this film showing a similar era in Japan show the warriors becoming bean counters.
9/10

Into the Wild
Based on the true story of Chris McCandless who upon college graduation gives his savings to Oxfam and burns his cash.  He cuts all ties and starts travelling through America for nearly 2 years.  The film focuses on his motivations and his adventures on the road and his efforts to get to Alaska.  A very interesting portrait exceptionally made.
9/10

2 Days in Paris
Julie Delpy directs herself and Adam Goldberg playing a couple on their way to Paris where he will finally meet her family and friends.  The couple bicker throughout which is mostly amusing though occasionally the intensity wears.  Definitely not the standard rom-com fare but on occasion very funny, well worth watching.
8/10

Fist of Legend
Possibly a better film than Fist of Fury and at least tempers the overt racism of the original with some sympathetic Japanese characters.  The Japanese hand to hand martial arts are also performed better than I’ve seen in other films.
The film is unfortunately tainted by some unintentionally funny soundtrack choices and Li has no charisma to speak of but the kung-fu is great and this is definitely worth watching.
7/10

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Whatever you think about Metallica this is an amazing documentary about a band self destructing.  The traditional drugs issue is a big part of it but this is more about guys that can’t work together anymore after 20 years.  A whole world of anger, aggression, and psychotherapists a bit like your average Metallica album then.
9/10

Michael Clayton
Much more interesting than I was expecting.  An intelligent thriller about what happens when the bad guys lose their bottle.
8/10

Starman
On a lighter track but I’m afraid I just wasn’t in the mood for it.  I found it a little dull and it lacked any significant surprises to keep me interested.  Mostly though Jeff Bridges character a little annoying, did he really get nominated for an Oscar for this.
I’m just not a fan of these idiot savant films like Being There etc..
4/10

The Howling
Classic 80′s werewolf action.  A news reporter traumatized by an assault is sent to a wooded retreat to recover where all is not what it seems.  Scary, gory, trashy, good fun.
8/10

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
I dunno what’s wrong with me these days first Rambo and now John Ford films.  I just don’t have the stomach for this simplified gung-ho nonsense anymore.  I don’t see the point in attaching a rating to this one.

Johnny Guitar
A much better classic Western.  Interesting characters and not quite so much black and white as Ford’s effort and a couple of twists in there to boot.
8/10

Juno
Last night was Juno.  It’s at least as sugary sweet and screaming I’m an independent film as Little Miss Sunshine.  To it’s credit it’s a far more enjoyable movie.  It’s less juvenile than last years Knocked Up and has it’s own story to follow.  The script takes about 20 minutes to settle (some of the dialogue is unnecessarily awkward) but there’s a pleasant enough film at it’s core.  The dialogue tries desperately hard to be the wittiest you’ve ever heard.  It’s snappy and sarcastic but gets on your nerves in the early parts of the film.  Thankfully, it chills a bit over it’s course.
7.5/10

Cloverfield
It’s basically Blair Witch with a monster.  Visceral is about the only way to describe it.  I mean you feel enough for the characters (though once again get fed up of their stupidity), but there’s no intellectual core to the film whatsoever.  It is a fairground ride pure and simple, you never have more to think about than what’s in front of you.  Assuming you don’t get motion sickness though this is entertaining while it lasts.
6/10

Killer of Sheep
A beautiful little film that reminds me a lot of the Bicycle Thief, pleasingly wikipedia tells me that’s the right answer

Twins of Evil
Classic Hammer with Peter Cushing and the lovely Collinson twins.  Great stuff though the witch burning zealots kept making me think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail..
Burn Her!!!
8/10

All That Jazz
I was absolutely certain I was going to hate this, I’ve been caught out before by highly recommended musicals (Chicago angry).  This was mostly great though, it devolved a bit in it’s climax into full on musical spectacular but until that point this was an interesting one.
7/10

Sweeney Todd
Not to sound like a smart ass (I mean it’s a musical everyone sings what their thinking, subtlety isn’t a strong point) but I felt like I was always 2 steps ahead of this film.  It’s strange it’s like you’re constantly waiting for what you know is going to happen to just happen.
The blood is good, the songs are pants to begin with but get better, and it looks great.
5/10

Aliens vs Predator 2: Requim
My comments on Hitman was that it wasn’t bad enough.  AvP2 however is plenty bad, amongst the most terrible films I’ve ever seen.  There’s plenty to laugh at here, ridiculous acting and an insanely stupid plot-line (it fits the pubescent comic book origins of the series) are what’ll keep you going if you have the misfortune to see this.

The Action is rubbish, the gore is tame, there’s no scares here at all, and the actors are overpaid sacks of meat, but the stupidity of it is entertaining.  It’s just a shame they had throttle two of the best 80′s sci-fi franchises to make these terrible films.

Y tu mamá también
It’s been a long while since I’ve seen a good unusual film on a friend’s recommendation so Y tu mamá también was a great surprise.  It was a twist on the usual coming of age drama, really funny and touching.  It was a shame about the final epilogue which kind of spat on everything that had happened so far.
8/10

Shoot ‘em Up
Spectacularly awesome awesomeness, like Crank with carrots.
8/10

Far From Heaven
I was entirely hating this film and it’s obtrusive score until about 20 minutes in and it was all change.  An interesting study on 50′s prejudice.
7/10

Performance
Interesting but incredibly of its time.  I suppose this would make a good counterpart to The Song Remains the Same for the sadistic amongst you
6/10

High Art
Hmm, it seems that I’m describing the “quality” films here as interesting and the junk as genius.. I guess none of them really made me sit up and think.  This was decent enough study of personality awakening but nothing hugely special.
7/10

Creepshow
Good fun and a good balance between the  silly stories and scary ones (though I’m afraid modern effects have made a few more silly than they should be).
They don’t make enough of these films though.  The only other ones I can think of are Tales From the Darkside and The Twilight Zone.  I suppose there’s always the television shows themselves though like the Outer Limits and Tales From the Crypt (I should really look out some of them).

Daywatch and Nightwatch
Watched Nightwatch and Daywatch one after another yesterday (going out on Saturday nights affords me easy excuses to spend all day Sunday watching films).  I really enjoyed Nightwatch the first time I saw it I got very lost and possibly poor subtitles made things worse.  I liked the madness of it this time and the way it comes together.
Daywatch was very different it seemed a little too scatterbrained, trying to cover far too much ground.  It still looks great though.

Tokyo Godfathers
Very different form the other Kon films.  I liked it even if it did go a wee bit into sentimental overdrive at times.  The straight ahead story was difficult to get used to as well, not even a single dream sequence to send you topsy turvy

Was at a slasher classics night yesterday.  Some great films I’d not seen ages (all originals no remakes of course, even though these weren’t my picks I might’ve raised objections otherwise 

Started with Halloween, ’tis amazing how much of this film becomes the absolute blueprint for everything else.  Great stuff and some good scares along the way.

Nightmare on Elm Street, the first one    I’d forgotten how well made much of this is, apart from some atrocious acting (which this slasher hardly has a monopoly on) there’s some great effects, the girl getting killed in the bed flying to the ceiling etc..  and Jonny Depp’s moment of glory.  But still a scary enough concept to keep you interested.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, by far the scariest of the three, despite very little on screen violence this is much more affecting than the modern “torture-porn”, just because the actual cutting is occurring just out of shot doesn’t mean any of it less mingin.

I know you’ve seen all these a dozen times but together they made a great movie night.
I was on anti-biotics so I didn’t even get any beer to make these easier to watch, still passed the grade

Last time I had a sick day reviewing session I made it through something like 6 films a day for 4 days solid.  I’m afraid I only managed 3 films (in no small part due to Bergman’s epic) yesterday and I’m really regretting making an appearance in work today.  So here goes…

Fanny and Alexander
Ingmar Bergman’s 5+ hour epic really wasn’t as much of an effort at all.  I’ve had this film in my to watch list for maybe two years.  Alexander is (about) 10 years old living amongst a colourful theatrical family.    His matriarchal grandmother, once a famous actress, oversees a huge family of varied characters.  His father runs the local theatre and Alexander sees all through unblinking unjudging.  His imagination runs wild in the huge family home, we’re first introduced to him as he fantasises of moving statues and the house coming to life.  Though his fantasies always have an edge that frightens him.  When he is moved to a bare lifeless home his day dreams take on a darker edge.

This is a film of environments and each is distinct, most of the family drama is seen through Alexander and his younger sister Fanny’s eyes.  The stylisation of these environments help enhance the feeling that we also are child observers.  We see the family’s dark secrets and all of their behind closed doors stories.  However Alexander is far from an impotent observer and his strong will ensures he takes centre stage.  Enchanting and haunting.
10/10

The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
After making my way through the huge F&A I have to confess to falling asleep for a while in the first half of this.  By the time the second half came though I was in much better shape.  It tells the interesting story of a fashion designer, the titular Petra.  She lives with her assistant/slave Marlene and the entire film takes place in Petra’s flat.  The film deals with Petra’s past failed relationships and her new one with model Karin.  Petra’s seemingly dominant and abrasive personality traits are declawed with the arrival of Karin but the cycle continues with her abuse of Marlene.  Her dependent masochistic relationships contrast with her sadistic parasitical ones.  Her own self absorption and mental collapse is striking and dramatic.  She describes relationship dynamics in her own aloof style, but it is her utter failure to recognise them in her herself that is the core of the film.  An interesting study, but not a simple film to penetrate.
7/10

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
One of John Ford’s later westerns comes to the story of the death of the cowboy.  Jimmy Stewart plays Ransom Stoddard, Lee Marvin the outlaw Liberty Valance, and John Wayne the old cowboy trying to create his own home and woo the local girl Hallie.  Each is trying to find his own place in the world and only one’s way of life can succeed.  It makes for a good story and the conflict is well played out with a couple of nice twists in the tale.  The film has dated though, much of Wayne’s dialogue and character is now a parody (I dare you not to laugh the first time he calls someone pilgrim), Marvin’s ridiculous outfit also doesn’t age so well, and some of Ford’s moralising can be hard to swallow at times, but there’s still much of worth here.
6.5/10

The Cutting Edge
This documentary starts with the title screen, What do Editors Do?  It’s well aware of the fact that even film fans have a tough time tying down good editing.  This feature length documentary gives a great crash course in editing technique so maybe next time that Oscar comes around you might be in a better place to comment on it.
7/10

Appleseed (2004)
Another CGI fest this time mimicking classic anime style.  Initially I thought we were going to be left as confused as I was during Casshern but the gaps are slowly filled in.  Beautiful visuals (though the odd weak looking scene does creep in) are able to sustain this for the most part.  Purists I’m sure pine for more but I preferred it to the 1988 anime.
7/10

Hoop Dreams
Spectacularly long but never the less gripping.  This is a true-life documentary following two young basketball hopefuls from the start of high school for the next 4 years.  It’s an amazing story but it’s the hope for the boys that keep us watching.  When I saw Crash I was under whelmed, racism isn’t something I often see and the film didn’t resonate.  Hoop Dreams thankfully avoids any overt sentimentality or explicitly addressing racism but paints a detailed picture of the struggles of young black Americans.
10/10

Avalon
I intended to watch something more intelligent this evening but subtitle problems brought me to this.  A low budget Polish action flick made by one Mamoru Oshii.  The Ghost in a Shell film maker makes his only live action feature as always ponderous.  Unfortunately we are to believe that the future is so dull that everyone plays computer games all the time not just the fat ones, it’s a pity games haven’t developed beyond shoot the big robot.  Despite a limited budget it still looks great and has ambitions of dealing with various themes but there’s no depth here, there’s not even the extended monologue proclamations of GitS.  Weak.
3/10

Gozu
Definitely not sick day viewing (duh it’s a Miike).  It was an interesting film though starting out with a classic Lynchian feel before moving to Cronenberg territory.  This is only my second Miike (I have to work up the courage to watch them), but to be fair to him his predilection for nastiness is always essential to his stories.
8/10

The Shining (US Theatrical)
One of my favourite films of all time, this version thankfully does not ruin it, it includes various scenes that while not spelling out some of story as you me fear help fill in some gaps.  The only reason really this doesn’t get the same 10/10 I would give the original is really just because it’s not the original as I see it.
8/10

Porco Rosso
Unfortunately the weakest Miyazaki I’ve seen so far.  The weirdness in this one is muted and seems forced to be honest, the romance is threadbare.  This just doesn’t have the heart of the others.  Of course it looks spectacular as always.
6/10

Me You and Everyone We Know
While not a film for everyone all of us this definitely has some appeal.  Miranda July’s film keeps you guessing an imagintive debut and an interesting story for any tortured artists you know.
8/10

A Mighty Wind
Chritopher Guest.
10/10