Dark Star

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

John Carpenter's first effort. A student film for the most part I believe. And yes, it's rough around the edges. And the actors are just friends. After watching hours of Alien extra features earlier this year I instantly recognised Dan O'Bannon's distinct voice.

It's not all there yet, but there are definitely parts of this I find absolutely hilarious. Some mostly for the concept rather than the execution of writing. Still fascinating to watch and an impressive effort considering the context n which it was made. 

You can also see the beginnings of the Alien story here, written as a reaction to how poorly this was recieved. I mean, there alien here is just a beach ball. But a hilarious beach ball nonetheless.

The Devil's Double

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

Dominic Cooper is so good. Actually so is the subtle make up and prosthetics that make him look just different enough to believe there's two different people that look very similar. 

It's odd though, I really liked the story however the actual execution of it left something to be desired. It's not bad by any means but it never peaked my interest as I had hoped. 

Still it's interesting enough to give a go and Cooper is great to watch.

Finding Nemo

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

Write Up.

Saw the 3D conversion. It was actually pretty subdued, very easy on the eyes. What was really cool was the new Toy Story short shown at the front. Rex becomes a part monster to a host of new toys from the bathtub. Loved it. Did I see it was by Pixar Canada? Interesting. Also noticed they got someone new in to do the music, someone who's obviously more adept at making rave music. Pretty funny.

Always great to catch up with Nemo. A lot of little moments and details I completely forgot about. Beautiful.

Detention

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

Write up.

Watched Bluray picture commentary. Just as nuts as the film. Also found my dad watching it when I arrived home from work. He didn't quite know what to make of it, and yet it held him right to the end. Such a fun little movie. Have you seen it yet?

The Fifth Element

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

Write Up.

So immaculately structured. You can't have set ups and pay offs, or as many parallel cuts as this film does without years of pre-planning. Beautiful.

I don't understand how, in this  day and age I can still find people that haven't seen this film. SO GOOD.

Detention

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

Write up.

Hooray for 2nd time viewing gags. Man what a pace this film has. Just amazing.

The Expendables 2

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

*sigh*

Hope Springs

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

A little apprehensive going in but it was refreshing to see a film from a big hollywood studio that deals so frankly with sex, even if it is within such a safe package perfectly marketed for the older crowd and sweet enough for the romantic comedy aficionados.

While it has moments of light humour it's really a rather sad little drama of a relationship that's stale and the work it would take to get it back to something meaningful. Of course the usual happy ending abounds and everything is neatly wrapped up and any lasting impact the film could have had is whitewashed in favour of the audience leaving with a smile.

Still, while it's been done before, it's still nice to see a bit of a change up from the usual rom com scenarios.

Eyes Wide Shut

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

Write Up.

At first glance a curious film to double with Clockwork Orange but thematically they are the two Kubrick films that deal closely with the concept of what is morally right and wrong, featuring characters that live somewhere in that grey area.

Great to finally see this one in a cinema too. I was far too young on its original theatrical release. My appreciation of this one only continues to grow the more I watch it. It doesn't seem to rate highly with friends but I think it's just as strong and resounding as any of his other films.

Watching it this time I noticed how palindromic the structure is, the way it sets up scenarios and then codas them backwards one at a time until we are back to the beginning. And of course at the centre we have that mysterious party that when you watch it for the first time, you have no idea what's coming and where the film could possibly head after.

There were a few other things I noticed this time too, always nice to have a film with details you can pick up on multiple viewings.

A Clockwork Orange

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

Been a long time since I last watched Kubrick's classic. Seeing it in a cinema was also a first for me. And always nice to see it with someone watching it for the first time, lets you see it with fresh eyes.

We were watching a 2K DCP from the digitally restored version. No scratches of spots but still keeps the grain and a very filmic look intact. And honestly the I don't think a 4K projection would have made the slightest bit of difference, the resolution of the original film only just has enough detail for the 2K.

I was also apprehensive about showing friends the violence in the film but I guess compared to what I'm used to seeing now this is quaint. It's such a stylised film in a heightened reality too. I forgot how funny and British some of those performances are.

Very nice to see in a cinema and always interesting to watch again.

The Entity

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

I love that I can still find films like this that I've never seen or heard of before. This one was great. Barbara Hershey raped by a ghost in front of her children. It's a pretty harsh ghost story. And the psychological profiling of the character by the doctors creates some great drama and ambiguity to the whole film too.

Barbara Hershey is great in the film. The FX are really cool. I saw Stan Winston's name in the end credits. Has a really really good soundtrack too. Loved discovering this one for myself last night.

Total Recall

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Alex, Kim

A pretty needless remake. I could understand if they went back to the source material and did a re-adaptation, perhaps this time one that follows the original story a little more closely but instead they've just re-adapted the original film adaptation and changed a few details whilst keeping most of the beats exactly the same and many many callbacks for fans.

The best thing about the film is the world building. The production design, the fx, the cinematography and all top notch. It's pretty much Blade Runner, just with a slightly more digital sheen. The action is pretty non-stop.

Where the film is let down is all the stuff between the action. Whilst I can appreciate getting rid of all the corny early 90's action dialogue from the original at least that film had more of a sense of fun and a far greater understanding of how to create the ambiguous reality throughout the film, which is the main reason I love it so much. Here's it seems more like they are just stopping for bare minimum story beats so they can get back to the next action set piece. After a while the action becomes fatiguing.

So it's just the original film without a sense of wonder, fun, or character.

The Bourne Legacy

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Alex, Kim

Here we have an action film, that despite a running time over 2 hours feeling like it's just treading water the entire time. They go out of there way to make numerous tie-ins and references to the other Bourne films to make it feel like part of the same series but this ultimately adds up to an extended exposition for a new series with a long action set piece at the end that ultimately resolves nothing.

It's well made enough, Tony Gilroy knows how to shot films. Jeremy Renner has never done anything for me and although I love Rachel Weisz, her damsel in distress character pretty much just consisted wearing a lab coat and glasses and and saying "SCIENCE!" every other word.

If this is a set up to a better film, so be it. But it doesn't hold up as a stand alone.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

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

A shame this one is being completely dumped here in Australia. I had to go out of my way to find out it was actually playing here, just once a day and has only been released for a week. Especially because I really loved it. A very different kind of apocalyptic movie more of a romantic comedy version however the comedy is pretty much dealt with upfront and the film doesn't shy away from the ending it sets up.

It makes for a very tonally odd film, I wouldn't call it a depressing comedy because it's also really sweet. Whatever feelings it brought out in my I enjoyed though.

It has an amazing supporting cast too that is only hinted at in the trailer. Steve Carell and Keira Knightley are great as the leads. Lorene Scafaria, who also wrote the delightful Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, has crafted a pretty unique film (No I haven't seen Last Night, but do plan to) and it's a real shame the distributor is trying to brush it under a the rug. So keep an eye out for it when it hits dvd.

Holy Motors

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

Glad to see surrealism on film is still alive and well. Even if I can't get my head around what's going on all the time there was still plenty to think about and look at. Denis Lavant is captivating playing 11 characters throughout. It's really an amazing showcase for him.

The film examines what acting is and also the role an audience has in the act. Lavant transforms himself  into different people in the back of a limousine as he is chauffeured to "appointments" where he acts out short vignettes. Some a funny, some are violent or shocking others are absolutely heartbreaking, always bizarre (Kylie Minogue even shows up in one segment and sings), and it's a testament to the actors that even when the fact that they are creating a performance is highlighted they still manage to draw you in.

This is definitely the strangest film I've seen this year, very hard to pin down and one that you might have to prepare yourself for to get any enjoyment out of. But lovers of the absurdist and surreal will have plenty to chew over.