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.

Conviction

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

Apart from the presence of Clea DuVall in a small but noteworthy role, there is nothing in this film that wasn't in the trailer. No surprises, no drama, no character turns, nothing. It's all there in two and a half minutes, so there is really no need to see the feature version unless you liked the trailer and an extended cut appeals to you.

The only thing that was in the trailer that wasn't in the film was some cool music from The Island.

It was an alright film, you know how the true story ends, even if you don't it's obvious because there's only one reason anyone would want to make it a film out of it. Perhaps if you haven't seen the trailer you can get some enjoyment out of it. The performances are all fine, it just all end up feeling rather average.

Yogi Bear

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

The only reason I would have wanted to see this was the 3D, they shot it in 3D with the fusion cameras. I got a free pass (thanks Amberly) but the film isn't showing in 3D anymore, so I can't comment on that. Damn. But even though it's about to finish showing here and school has gone back the cinema was PACKED with filthy kids. Unbelievable.

So how is the movie? Well I guess it could have been worse. But not much. There were a few lines here and there, mainly at the start that were funny, but then the film descends into a big slapstick action finale that I couldn't stand but the kids loved.

Tom Cavanagh is shit. He is just sooooo shit. Sure his character is the straight man, but UHHHHHHhhh he is bad. He really looks like he doesn't want to be there. And he does some of the worst acting with 3d characters ever, his eyelines never match up. Most of the time they keep the bears in a separate frame to the human characters. They should have done that more.

I love T.J. Miller in pretty much everything I've seen him in. He plays the Ranger's assistant here and his stuff along with Nathan Corddry and Andrew Daly as the evil guys are the best bits in the film. Why are the bad guys in kids films always so much more entertaining than the heros?

Dan Aykroyd does a serviceable job but Justin Timberlake's Boo Boo impersonation is spot on. Who knew?

The film still has a very digitally look to it. The lighting is very flat. Could be a limitation of the 3D and matching the characters and stuff like that. Anyway It's not a film I'm going to see again anytime soon, unless I can traumatise some kids with the alternate ending.

The Way Back

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

Wow, another epic. More amazing locations. Unlike The English Patient, this time I had to opposite problem of freezing my ass off in the cinema air conditioning watching people freeze to death in Siberia. I'm never happy am I.

Peter Weir takes his time between movies, but who cares when they are all this good. Another great cast, some I knew and some I didn't. Some I was surprised to see pop up in the film, but that's the joy of not having seen much advertising or reading any reviews of a film before you see it, the pleasant surprises.

So while it is 2 hours of people walking, it's not Gus Van Sant minimalist. we slowly learn about the characters and their backstories, there are a variety of problems to overcome and they traverse a ridiculous distance through a huge variety of locations.

It is surprisingly involving, especially since we know from the introduction that 3 men survive but when we see them start off there are 6. There is hardly any score, the sound has nothing to hide behind. There are quite a few uncomfortable sections of silence. The make up and the great acting sells the characters exhaustion terrifically, it's hard to watch sometimes.

Overall I really enjoyed this but didn't really appreciate the very end. Having different actors play the older versions of the same character we've just been watching and getting involved with for over 2 hours is a little distancing for what should have been a more emotional reunion. That's probably just me being picky though, Im sure most people won't care. I hope Peter Weir makes more films soon.

Burke and Hare

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

John Landis you need to make more films. This one is populated with the most awesome BBC and comedic actors in every part and has his usual cartoonish comedic direction. Just look at that cast list! There was another similar themed film that I saw a year or so ago called I Sell the Dead but I like this one more.

The film revels in playing up the Scottishness of everything. It looks and sounds great, so much unnecessary bagpipes. Apparently this is a rather liberally adapted true story, there are real life characters you might recognise in it and it's a story that seems legitimate only probably not as comedic in real life. Funny stuff.

It's rather idiosyncratic to see a period piece done in that slightly cartoonish style John Landis does so well. I really like it though, seek this one out.

The English Patient

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

I've seen the very start of this film a few times but have never made it through the whole thing. It's pretty long too, probably due to having not just one but two romance stories going on in parallel timelines. All set in the epic background of a desert AND the war. How could it not win Oscars? Because I never made it past the first few minutes before I had no idea Sayid from Lost, Collin Firth and Willem Dafoe were in this. Awesome.

Probably not the best film to watch on such a hot day. You can almost feel the sand in your hair. Beautiful photography of a lot of sand. This film is very yellow.

The framing story with Juliette Binoche didn't interest me as much as the main flashbacks of the dying man on a bed. Every time we return to the "present" I'm always just waiting to get back to the flashbacks again. Except for maybe the scene with the bomb diffusing. Added some tension, even though the scene felt completely superfluous. Nothing wrong with them though, and everyone throughout the film is great.

What the framing does allow for is a hopeful ending in an other was traditional tragic love story. It has it's sad ending for the main characters but end with the chance of good things to come for Juliette Binoche.

I can see why people love this film. It's very sad Anthony Minghella passed away, I think he had some much more to offer us.

Please Give

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

Another melancholy New York indie film.

I enjoyed this quite a bit though mainly because of the great cast and the avoidance of over sentimentality, especially when dealing with issues like grandma passing away, suicide, cancer, affairs etc. It has enough humour to get you through and doens't dwell on these issues (or even bother to resolve some of them) and there's not big "acting" moments of breakdowns or anything.

This makes it a very easy watch. It's drama lite, but pleasant nonetheless.