The Million Dollar Hotel

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Strange movie. Story by Bono? heh.

Wow, ok so the I just realised that before watching this the only other Wim Wenders film I've seen is Paris, Texas and that was a long time ago when I was still in high school so I hardly remember it. So I only really know his work by reputation.

The main reason for watching this was I find Jeremy Davies fascinating. It was certainly no disappointment in that department. In fact all the cast was great, playing some very bizarre characters. I especially liked the great Peter Stormare playing a John Lennon wannabe. Milla Jovovich is on hand playing the femme fatale of the piece. And Mel Gibson is pretty funny as the cop.

This film feels like a fever dream of a modern noir. It's filled with crazy characters and meandering plots. I'm not entirely sure I picked up what was going on all the time. It feels very train of thought. It wafts from scene to scene. I guess you have to be in the right mood for that kind of movie, I was a little restless and found it hard to connect to anything.

But I did appreciate the aesthetic and the funky characters.

Color of Night

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

I think this movie was dated even when it was made.

It's a great cast doing their best with an average thriller. And a couple of sex scenes shoehorned in to make things appear to be steamy.

Overall it didn't really work for me, mainly due to the music. I just can't stand bad synth orchestrations. It sounded like real instruments in the climax so either they paid for that music or could only afford musicians for that track.

It's an alright premise, and some of the individual characters are interesting but none of them are developed and no real emotional connections are ever made.

Right At Your Door

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Dominic

This is a great low budget take on a big scale disaster movie.

They keep it pretty much all in one house with just two or three characters. The drama is great and the tension builds wonderfully, thanks to some great acting and a well paced script.

It's a really simple set up and it's simply told. It's gritty and pretty mean. I think my main problem with the film is the ending, it's not really a problem I just can't decide if it makes or breaks the film. It's certainly an interesting twist though that will work better for some than other.

An under seen gem, definitely worth seeking out.

The Red Shoes

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Dominic, Zoe

Bluray is AWESOME. I watched this earlier in the year and stand by what I said then but it is that much more awesome in digitally restored HD.

I had no idea this was 200 minutes long. It flys by, you really don't notice it. But I realise it is now almost the middle of the night and I started this before dinner. Still It's a great way to spend the time.

The Messenger

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

Don't shoot him!

I've been a big Ben Foster fan for a while now, he's pretty much always the best thing in each movie he's in. This is no exception.

A movie about people being informed their relatives have died in combat. You know it's going to be a tough watch and it is. But the way the relationship between Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson develops is the main focus of the drama. They are each trying to cope with their own grief and do so in different ways.

Samantha Morton is on hand to provide a strange sort of romantic interest but I was never really as interested in that storyline as the two guys.

This is an interesting angle on the whole consequences of war film. It's not preachy but it gets its message across loud and clear.

Another Year

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

Another Year, another depressing Mike Leigh film.

The slow beginning made me think this was going to be just a rather boring character study of old people. It IS pretty much just a bunch of old people talking.

But Lesley Manville is so good playing a character that is first gratingly annoying, that she draws you in and makes her sympathetic. The ending sums up the film nicely, it's quiet, understated and heartbreaking.

Also a nice shout out to Western Australia and Fremantle. That was neat.

I resisted this film at first but it drew me in almost against my will. That's fantastic filmmaking and brilliant performances.

The Virginity Hit

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

American Pie done as Documentary.

The writer/director team of Andrew Gurland and Huck Botko also wrote the better than expected The Last Exorcism that came out late last year. They've kept the mockumentary style but the story is the polar opposite.

It works great as a teen comedy I guess, It's a little unbelievable that in real life they would be filming as much as they do, but if you can go with it it's fine. The characters are all pretty big idiots though and most of them are not very likeable. They try to balance out the sweet with the crass but the heart never quite sticks, so for me it just came off as a bit juvenile. Though that's entirely the point I'm sure.

The kids are all great and believable. If you like these kinds of movies I'm sure you'll find plenty to enjoy here.

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Wooo, more adventure goodness. Although not as good as the second. Hmm, all the Sinbad film have an evil magician and end with a giant monster on monster battle. But that's cool. Also there is a Giant Walrus.

This magician is some lady with tiger eyes. She doesn't really do much either. Sinbad villans = lame. Really you watch it for the monsters. But here the Big dude at the end just looks like the cyclops from the first film with another eye and a horn added. A Horny bi-clopse.

There is also a prince who is turned into a monkey. But he looks and act better when he is a monkey than when he is played by the human, who looks a little like late Michael Jackson plasticness. Not quite sure which one was the special effect there.

Oh and that temple from Indian Jones and the Last Crusade. Neat.

The Social Network

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan

David Fincher was robbed.

Bluray came out today! huzzah. Watched the two hours of extras and they are neat. Then watched the writer/cast commentary. I'll listen to Fincher's later. Still some great insight into the film, e.g. they shot the entire film at 1.2T to get the depth of field and used masses of ND filters to keep it that way. Ridiculous.

This should have won best picture.

Everyone go buy it. It's better than Resident Evil 4.

Stupid Oscars.

Fritz the Cat

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Some good ol' Ralph Bakshi animation based on the characters of Robert Crumb. I love how 70's this film is.

It's a very episodic film, going from skit to skit examining the perverted exploits and naive social outcrying of the protagonist. Free love and groovy times.

There are some cool trippy sequences, but on the whole the animation is quite cheap. Still it captures the voice of social reform of the time. An interesting cult curiosity.

Airplane! a.k.a. Flying High

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Ahh, back when parody was funny and not just a string of references to character from other films. The loss of Leslie Nielsen last year was a sad thing. I love him mainly form Forbidden Planet but his comedy work with the Zucker brothers is great to.

This is their first big film and also probably their best. So many classic and quotable lines. I'll admit I never saw this as a kid, only later in life when I had exhausted the Naked Guns and when back to look at their other stuff.

Funny

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

2nd Film in the series. I like this one more than the first, mainly because this one has the awesome Tom Baker as the evil magician and he is great. Also it has a very cool battle between a one-eyed centaur and a griffin. And Kali, I can imagine what a pain it would be to have to animate all those limbs.

Also this Sinbad is much more charming and fun, probably the biggest reason why this film works better than the others.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Some classic Ray Harryhausen animation. Love these old adventures. Score by Bernard Herrmann doesn't hurt either.

So this is the one with the evil magician, the genie, the shrunken princess and the dragon vs. cyclops battle. It's also the only Sinbad that doesn't have a beard. Not really my favourite one but still some cool stuff. This one still feels very 50's. It was the first full colour feature with Ray Harryhausen's effects.

The bad guy is so annoyingly passive. He is just part of the crew really and doesn't put up much of a fuss when things don't go his way. It's strange.

There's a cool Sinbad vs skeleton fight, which is improved upon greatly in the infamous Jason and the Argonauts battle. A lot of fun to be had, but I like the 2nd the most I think.

The Resident

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Dominic

Yay for Hammer Horror making a comeback. Let Me In (Let the Right One In remake) was a damn great start for the company and this one is good too but has slightly more of the flavour of the old creepyness the Hammer films had (plus all the Christopher Lee, minus the camp). Actually that's the best way to describe the film, creepy as hell.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, creepy creepy creepy. This role will turn all his Grey's Anatomy fans against him for sure. He's great. Seek the film out just to watch him. Also Lee Pace fans, he makes a brief appearance.

Competently mode, defiantly worth a watch.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Dominic

I think the writer's strike really didn't help this movie, the script feels very much like a first draft. Characters state their motivations and bad exposition while other events happen with no good explanation as to why they were needed or how it impacts anything.

And it also contains some of the most offensive comedy relief characters ever put to screen. Some very juvenile humor that just boggles the mind.

And shaky cam.

BUT there are many explosions and the effects are mind numbingly awesome. Too bad they are wasted on this film. The first one was much more enjoyable, warts and all. Let's see what this madness is like in 3D later this year...

S.O.B.

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Another Blake Edwards. Saw him on the In Memorial at the Oscars yesterday and remembered I had this on my list to see. Kind of ironic considering the film is about a producer who uses various exploitative methods to change his flopped film, including his own death, to make people interested to see it.

This is the one where Julie Andrews gets her tits out. Go Julie. The musical numbers are strange though, there are funny bits here and there, mainly a few witty lines.

This is a pretty pissed off film, seems very auto-biographical. The message certainly gets out there but it's not done in as entertaining a way as his earlier films.

Buying the Cow

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Saw a bit of this flicking through tv channels the other night and had to fid out why this film was. Never even heard of it before.

It's not offensively bad which was a nice surprise. It's not the best romantic comedy ever either but Ryan Reynolds has little to no clothing on for the majority of his screen time so that has to count for something.

Has it's share of funny moments and that's all I could really ask for, so it delivered on the goods.

A Single Man

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Colin Firth just won the oscar, I didn't think he should. If I had my way you would have switched years so he won last year for this and Jeff Bridges won for True Grit this year. Because I didn't like him much in Crazy Heart either.

Anyway this film is neat but I only watched it again to bring that up. And to hear the commentary. The bluray doesn't look very good, there is some really bad compression. But the film is great.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

My Bluray set just arrived and this is the one I wanted to see first because of the recently restored cut they have as an alternate on the disc. Ultimately it isn't that different but the extra gore and the the way the end plays out is cool and makes it that more evil. Which is what this film needed after the lightness in tone of the third film. Also this is the story that will form the basis of the remake that should be coming out this year with James Franco and some Weta mocap apes.

The fourth film in the series. The scope of the stories seem inversely proportionate to the budget they had. It does show somewhat, which makes me excited to see what the remake will be. Hopefully not another Tim Burton one. That film had some merits but ultimately was a failure.

Roddy Mcdowall returns, playing his own son from the last film. Time Travel huh? You know, besides the dubious method of time travel the timeline does work out although it is a self fulfilling prophecy, which means a self contained loop, but that's ok.

There really isn't much story to this film, it's pretty much just the rise of the Apes from slavery. Is alright. Look forward to checking out the extras in the set.

Dogtooth

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

What a rollicking good time.

I think this might be the first greek film I've seen. It's a doozy. I really liked it though. It's that classic set up that we've all though about at some time or another, what if you raised kids in isolation from the real world and made up your own fantasy rules that became their reality. This film takes that rather sick concept and runs with it.

It's a very simple story, very economically told. Slow paced and observational, it takes a while to get into and figure out exactly what is going on. The film is punctuated by brief outbursts of some shocking behaviour and ends as abruptly as it begins, very open ended but with strong suggestions as to the downfall of this make believe world.

For the most part we are observing what day to day life in this charade of a life consists of. A little slow for my tastes but I can't pass up a good controversial film.

Back to the Future Part 2

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Amberly, Jordan

Yeah it's a little forced here, escalation's a bitch. But there are still a lot of fun things and some great effects. And a very young Elijah Wood.

Out of the 3 films this is the one I like the least. Probably due to the fact that the first one is so good and the third was repeated over and over again on tv growing up so I just know it better.

I don't know why they are so worried about paradox in the later half of the film when they already have a billion of them in this one and left over from the first.

Anyway still fun, some cool action and funny moments. Good to watch again after so long.

Back to the Future

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Amberly, Jordan

Great Scott!

Awesome times. Bluray looks great. What was cool watching this again, apart for educating someone who has never seen it was picking up things I hadn't seen before. These films are filled with little stuff to pick up on multiple viewings, and it's been a very long time since I sat down and watched them.

This time the main thing I noticed was The pine tree couple the farmer was trying to breed that Marty destroys when he first enters the past and then noticing the Mall was called one tree mall. Cool.

I don't agree with any of the times travel logistics of this film at all but it is super fun 80'sness. On to part 2.

Mary Poppins

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

It's been such a long time since I've watched this but I still seem to know it all by heart.

I just go the new dvd (not yet out on bluray = booo) mainly to hear to commentary. They do go on a lot about the tuppence but it's not really something I thought about before so that's ok. Everyone knows all the songs, everyone knows the film. The animated sequences, the dance sequences, the bad cockney accents, It's all good. A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Frozen

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan, Amberly

I really like this film. I think the trailer gives away too much though.

A neat little low budget survival film that gets pretty gritty. It also knows how to set up characters that are easy to emotionally invest in. I've seen this a few times now and think I probably like this the most out of Adam Green's filmography.

In a film with just 3 characters for the majority I was surprised and a little shocked at how quickly and willing they were to loose them. While they spend most of the time sitting in a chair lift it's a sure sign of a good script and great direction that it is never boring or uninvolving.

If you haven't seen the trailer I wouldn't recommend watching it now, but If you have just know that I think the film is a lot better than the kind of film it looks like it should be. This is due to the great acing, the time it takes to set up the characters, gret direction and a few sequences that will make you squirm.