“Week of Variety” June 24, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, 2007 , add a commentIt’s on into August — 2007, that is — with this latest catch-up of reviews from the first year of this blog.
My original introduction still stands quite well for most of the films here (Heat and Mean Creek were part of the preceding entry originally), so I’ll just repeat some of it.
“…it’s a Week Of Variety. To be honest, I suspect there’s always a fair bit of variety in my film choices, but this week it’s especially pronounced — straightforward British comedies stand by low-budget intellectual sci-fi; complex teenage faux-film noir sits next to epic trilogy-starting Russian fantasy/horror; American gangster thriller lies beside classic British romance… And, while most were made in the new millennium, there’s a spread of over 60 years between the oldest and the most recent. All within the space of seven days, too!”
- Brick (2005)
- Brief Encounter (1945)
- Confetti (2006)
- The Departed (2006)
- Educating Rita (1983)
- Heat (1995)
- Kinky Boots (2005)
- Mean Creek (2004)
- Night Watch (2004)
- Primer (2004)
Next time: Potter, Pan, and Han shooting first.
Finally, it’s the ’70s! June 14, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, 1970s, 2007 , add a commentThe 1970s finally get in on the 100 Films act (just) in this latest updated from last year’s viewing, with a 5-star review for 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer. Elsewhere it’s all a lot more recent, with one from the ’90s and eight from the ’00s. One could argue my viewing has a distinctly modern bias…
- Capote (2005)
- Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
- Monster (2003)
- Mystic River (2003)
- Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)
- Right at Your Door (2006)
- Ringers: Lord of the Fans (2005)
- Sense and Sensibility (1995)
- The Woodsman (2004)
No shorts this time, so til next…
Sherlock Holmes, Spider-Man and Shakespeare (sort of) May 10, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, Short, 2007 , add a commentFifteen reviews from last year this time, including the first batch of four shorts.
I know I said I’d leave all of these posts the same as before… well, I have, but I caved on a little afterword-addition to one of them. Other than that, here they are:
- Chinatown (1974)
- Hello, Dolly! (1969)
- It’s All Gone Pete Tong (2004)
- Over the Hedge (2006)
- Ray (2004)
- Road to Morocco (1942)
- The Sign of Four (1983)
- Spider-Man 2.1 (2004/2007)
- Spider-Man 3 (2007)
- A Study in Scarlet (1983)
- West Side Story (1961)
Regular readers (with spectacular memories) will recall that in my last 2007 update I mentioned the lettery-numbery-convention (in desperate need of a better name) would find further employment in this update. Well, there’s Spider-Man 2.1 obviously, but also short films.
Short films have many merits, and not giving them a whole number is not designed to demean them, but, really, it’s not the same as a feature, is it? I mean, I own the Cinema16: British Short Films DVD — I could sit down with that for three-and-a-half hours and, if each short had its own number, my total for 2008 would go up by 16; whereas if I watched (for a random example) Once Upon a Time in America — which is about 20 minutes longer — it would only count as one. So, essentially for those reasons, shorts are subjected to the same numbering convention as barely-different extended cuts.
So, the actual reviews:
- Bus Stop (2004)
- The End (2002)
- Nine 1/2 Minutes (2002)
- Park (2005)
As I expect is obvious, there are more 2007 updates to come, including further shorts.
25 new old reviews April 18, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, 1 star, 2007, extended/director's cut , add a commentAnother 25 reviews in this update, taking things to week 19 of 2007. There’s a bunch of editorials scattered around these too — hunt them down if you’re interested.
So, after the two five-star films of the last 2007 update, this time we have the first (and so far only) one-star film. And well deserving of such revulsion it was too, if you ask me. Also worthy of note this update are reviews of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours Trilogy, and the first review of something I’ve seen before in a new cut (with so few differences that it’s numbered “27a” instead of “28″, a convention that will find further employment in the next update).
- American Dreamz (2006)
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- Breathless (1960)
- Casanova (2005)
- Chocolat (2000)
- Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
- Crash: Director’s Cut (2004)
- The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
- Flight 93 (2006)
- Garden State (2004)
- Happy Feet (2006)
- Hidden (2005)
- The King and I (1956)
- Ladies in Lavender (2004)
- Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
- March of the Penguins (2005)
- Mrs Henderson Presents (2005)
- The New World (2005)
- Secretary (2002)
- Stormbreaker (2006)
- The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
- Three Colours Blue (1993)
- Three Colours White (1994)
- Three Colours Red (1994)
- Trainspotting (1996)
One thing I’ve noticed, looking back through these, is that some of the scores seem awfully generous, especially based on how fondly I remember the film — quite how March of the Penguins earned 4-stars is beyond me (for just one example). I’ve stuck with all the original scores though, and also left the content of the reviews unrevised (except for one brief addition to Casanova…) I think if there’s one major flaw I have as a reviewer (and that’s not to say I don’t have many), it’s that I enjoy things too easily and score too highly. Great for me that I enjoy things, not so much use to any readers one might kindly describe as ‘discerning’.
Welcome to 2007 April 10, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, 5 stars, 2007, silent films , add a commentIn lieu of having any new reviews to post right now (there are some films I really need to watch for my course, however, so expect some to start appearing soon), I’ve finally begun to post the films from 2007’s quest onto this blog. They’re all formatted to fit the style here (rather than the old compendium format) and are interspersed with editorials (i.e. what used to be introductions). Today I’ve added my first 25 reviews, as well as the three ‘editorials’ that were around them.
Every time I put a new batch on I’ll be posting an entry like this one, with Handy Links for those who may have missed things first time round. Below is an alphabetical list of today’s additions. Notable films in this lot include my first five-star review, my second five-star review, and the first four silent films I reviewed: two very famous ones by F.W. Murnau, 1922’s Nosferatu and 1927’s Sunrise; 1927 romcom It; and, ahead of this Saturday’s visit to Pompeii by the good Doctor, a 1913 silent version of those events in The Last Days of Pompeii.
- Basil the Great Mouse Detective (1986)
- Blood Diamond (2006)
- Boogie Nights (1997)
- A Cock and Bull Story (2005)
- Doom (2005)
- Eragon (2006)
- Fargo (1996)
- For Your Eyes Only (1981)
- Hot Fuzz (2007)
- It (1927)
- Johnny English (2003)
- The Last Days of Pompeii (1913)
- Nosferatu (1922)
- Notes on a Scandal (2006)
- Octopussy (1983)
- Ong-Bak (2003)
- The Prestige (2006)
- The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
- The Reckless Moment (1949)
- Romance & Cigarettes (2005)
- South Pacific (1958)
- Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
- This is Spinal Tap (1984)
- Thumbsucker (2005)
- United 93 (2006)
Once I’ve moved all the reviews over I will of course add my summary posts, which included a Top 10 and Bottom 5 for the year. Some of the above films made it on to those lists…
#97: A Study in Scarlet (1983) September 4, 2007
Posted by badblokebob in : Animation, adaptations, 2 stars, 1980s, Mystery, 2007, Sherlock Holmes , add a comment1983 | Ian Mackenzie & Alex Nicholas | 49 mins | DVD | U
Peter O’Toole is again the voice of the famous sleuth in this disappointing animated adaptation of the first Sherlock Holmes mystery. The adaptation is faithful to the original novel’s structure (sadly, as its a somewhat bizarre one, and ripe for a more interesting interpretation), but loses any elements pertaining to Holmes and Watson’s first meeting. The animation seems more basic than the other entry in this particular series that I’ve seen, and O’Toole’s performance is flatter; the rest of the cast don’t fair any better. The story itself isn’t a bad one, but after being pleasantly surprised by The Sign of Four I just found this to be disappointing.
#93: Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) August 23, 2007
Posted by badblokebob in : Drama, Clint Eastwood, War, 2000s, adaptations, 4 stars, true stories, 2007 , add a comment2006 | Clint Eastwood | 135 mins | DVD | 15 / R
Companion to Flags of Our Fathers, and widely considered the better of the two, showing the same battle from the Japanese perspective.
Letters focuses on the human angle, getting to know the characters as they prepare for battle (the Americans don’t arrive for almost an hour) and through flashbacks. The film aims to humanise ‘The Enemy’ but only succeeds in showing that there were some good people in a society of old-fashioned ideas; the obsession with pointless suicide over genuine use of men may be true, but still seems savage and unpractical (probably more a flaw of the real military attitude than of the film, then). No character who follows this is a good guy; likable ones survive or are Westernised. The Americans we see are a mix too (one shoots captured soldiers for no reason, for example), but this feels like a hollow attempt to depict the filmmakers’ countrymen equally rather than genuinely aiding the concept of the Japanese as good guys.
The action sequences and cinematography owe a lot to Saving Private Ryan — desaturation is becoming a war film cliche; that said, it works here, fitting the bland sandy environment and emphasising bursts of colour from blood and flames.
A mixed film then, the value of which lies not in presenting a view of war, humanity or Japanese culture, but in providing a view (or, indeed, half a view) of this one particular battle.
I’ll share my thoughts on the first half of this pair when LoveFilm decide to send it to me.