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300
There's a feeling that I can't find a word for, but I expect we've all felt it at some point. It's the feeling you get when you suddenly realise the situation you're in isn't quite what you thought it was at the start. →
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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
About two months ago I rounded up all the films I was looking forward to seeing, but that list largely consisted of reasonably high-profile names for which the buzz is often noticeable many months before the release. But I don't just limit myself to films I've heard about, though; sometimes I'll pick a film at random and hope for the best. It's worked out well in the past --- Angel-A, Black Book and Perfume were all films I took a chance on, and all turned out to be great. →
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Hot Fuzz
I've mentioned before that there are only a few directors who, in my mind, can do no wrong --- Aronofsky, Raimi, Singer and Nolan. Having just seen Hot Fuzz, I'm now going to add Edgar Wright to that list. I don't want to be overly hyperbolic, but I think that the British film industry ought to get down on their knees and thank whatever deity happens to be passing for not just Edgar Wright but for Simon Pegg as well, because their films are not only excellent, but because it means we, as a nation, can finally stand behind ensemble comedy pieces that don't have the words 'Carry' and 'On' in the title. →
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The Shape of Things to Come, V
I don't write reviews of every film I see, because if I did I'd be updating this website on a daily basis, and we all have better things to be spending our time on. So, although I mentioned it six months ago, I never got around to telling you all that Clerks 2 is a terrible, terrible film, and is best avoided. Sorry if that warning arrived too late. →
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Perfume
Apparently, the novel that this film was adapted from was a bit of a hit back in 1985. It sadly passed me by, but in my defence I was only seven years old, and my literary tastes hadn't developed that much further beyond The Famous Five and Asterix --- so, I may not have been much of a wordsmith but at least I could be casually racist and pun in Latin. →
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The trouble with Lost
The trouble with Lost is this: you can't build a long-running show upon the conceit that the viewers will be told nothing of consequence, because those viewers will eventually get bored of being strung along. With six episodes of the third season now down, I've finally reached that point.
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Pan’s Labyrinth
I want to make something clear right at the start: I do like this film. I want to make that fact clear now, because I'm concerned that what I'll go on to say will give you the wrong impression; that I don't like the film, or that I'm just trying to be contrary in the face of overwhelmingly positive reviews. It is a good film and I did enjoy it and I can't really fault it. And yet... →
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The Prestige
Along with Aronofsky, Raimi and Singer, Christopher Nolan is one of the very few directors who I can really rely upon. A film with one of those names attached is, to me, a guarantee that I'll be enjoying myself. →
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Marie Antoinette
From the wonderful punk rock posters to the soundtrack that features the likes of New Order, The Strokes, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, this is a film that tries so very hard to be, above all else, hip. Coming from the director of the iconic Lost in Translation, this shouldn't be a problem. →
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Review of Martin Scorsese’s The Departed
This was a film that crept up on me; I had no idea it was being made, its background, who was involved...the first I heard of it was when I saw the ‘so poor I felt a bit sorry for it' Black Dahlia and caught the trailer. I knew absolutely nothing about it and saw it on a vague whim, because I felt that The Queen and Clerks 2 could probably wait until DVD. And I'm glad I did, because The Departed turned out to be one of the best films I've seen all year. →
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Everybody hates The Black Dahlia
I've been impressed by the critical reaction to The Black Dahlia, which appears to have started out bad and only grown worse, with each reviewer trying to out-hate the others. For instance, the reviewer at Film Threat describes Scarlett Johansson's performance as being "the cinematic equivalent of nails on a feces-covered blackboard", which I'm not even entirely sure means anything. →
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A Scanner Darkly
A warning to others: seeing a film about drug addiction, paranoia, hallucinations and corporate corruption at 11am on a sleepy Sunday may cause subsequent strange behaviours, including, but not limited to, buying what appears to be a fedora minutes after the film has ended, even though the hat does not appear in the film. →
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Superman Returns
Thank you, Bryan Singer. Thank you, because I was beginning to think that disliking all these big-budget blockbusters was actually my problem, that I'd become so intolerant of mediocrity and so quick to dismiss and reject that all my inner rage about these terrible films I put myself through had twisted around in on itself and I'd basically disappeared up my own arse. →
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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Hard as it may be to imagine, I do, in fact, enjoy some films. Take the first Pirates film, for instance; I really liked it. It was funny, it had some very quotable lines, the action was enjoyable, Johnny Depp was brilliant, Geoffrey Rush equally so, Orlando Bloom didn't get in the way too much and Keira Knightley was reasonably fanciable, in that borderline-anorexic way of hers. I couldn't really fault it. →
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The Shape of Things to Come, IV
It really feels as if there hasn't been anything on at the cinema lately. In fact, I realise now that I've been just twice this year and the year is halfway gone already, so somebody, somewhere along the line, is slacking. →
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X-Men: The Last Stand
When it was announced that Bryan Singer had abandoned X-Men: The Last Stand in favour of Superman Returns, I was a bit uneasy. When it was then announced that Brett Ratner, who Singer had replaced, was to direct the X-Men film, I was uneasier still. When it was announced that Halle Berry was only returning if she received a bigger part, I worried some more. Finally, when it was announced that Vinnie Jones was going to star, I lost all hope. →
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The Tenth Doctor
A little over a year ago, I wrote about the return of Doctor Who to our screens, and I was fairly dismissive not just of the new series, with Christopher Ecclestone as the Doctor, but the entire franchise. With the dodgy acting, poor production values and general air of tackiness, I could not understand its appeal. Despite this, for reasons unknown to me, I kept watching. →
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V for Vendetta
If I told you now that towards the end of the film one of the characters, a thirty-something Londoner, says "This place gives me the collywobbles", you'd probably be able to guess which way I'm going to go with this. →
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Walk the Line
Arriving at the Odeon five minutes before the film began was a mistake; I'd overestimated how many people wanted to see this film, so I had to sit right at the front and right at the edge, my neck twisted, my vision overwhelmed by GIANT FACES and a muscle in my back nagging me for the whole time. Despite this, I enjoyed Walk the Line, and if I can enjoy a film whilst sat like a practicing contortionist then I think that says a lot. →
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King Kong
There's a moment very early on in King Kong that's worth noting. Film director Carl Denham (ably played by Jack Black) is showing some safari footage to a group of producers. As the footage plays out, one of the producers wearily asks "how much more of this is there?", and grimaces when the answer is 'five more reels'. It's worth noting because, after an hour of the film has been and gone and the protaganists are still on their boat, yet to discover Skull Island, that's exactly the question you'll find yourself asking. →