Nick's Movie Viewing 2011

January:

Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire ***

Notting Hill ****

And Then There Were None ***

Die Hard 4.0 ***

The Devil's Backbone ****

Monty Python & The Holy Grail *****

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ***

Stranger Than Fiction ****

Looking For Eric ****

Annie Hall *****

X-Files: I Want To Believe **

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier **

Body Of Lies ***

A Room With A View **

Dog Soldiers ****

Black Sheep ***

February:

The Conversation *****

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang ****

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ****

In Bruges ****

Inception *****

South Pacific ***

The King's Speech *****

The Remains Of The Day ****

The Hurt Locker ****

Star Trek: Insurrection ***

Brazil ****

Sabrina ****

Double Jeopardy ***

March:

The Spy Who Loved Me ****

Toy Story 3 *****

Kick Ass ****

The Iron Giant *****

Moonraker ***

A Single Man *****

April:

The Muppet Movie ****

May:

Public Enemies ***

The Notebook ****

Infamous ****

Before Sunrise ****

Lady Vengeance ****

The Goonies ***

The Crying Game ****

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind *****

An Education ****

June:

X-Men: First Class ****

Hanna ****

Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix ****

Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince ****

The Quick And The Dead ***

Trollhunter ***

Weekender ***

Mrs. Carey's Concert ****

The Social Network ****

Heaven And Earth ***

July:

Leon *****

Carrie ****

Mary And Max *****

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, Part 1 ****

Out Of Sight ****

Last Night ***

Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels ****

A Cock And Bull Story ****

The Illusionist ****

The Day Of The Jackal ****

Water Lilies ***

The Men Who Stare At Goats ***

Tangled ****

A Town Called Panic ***

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 ****

August:

5x2 ***

Wendy & Lucy ***

Arthur ***

Rise Of The Planet of the Apes ****

Knight And Day **

Date Night ***

Centurion ***

Scott Pilgrim vs The World ***

Horrible Bosses ***

Captain America ****

September

The Adjustment Bureau ****

The Trip ***

Australia ***

October

Star Trek ****

Source Code ****

Transformers 2: The Revenge of Something or Other *

Away From Her ****

Day Watch **

Faust *****

Frankenstein *****

November

Nowhere Boy ***

Black Swan *****

Iron Man 2 ***

Thor ***

December:
Ponyo
Synecdoche, New York

Nick's Movie Viewing 2010

January:
The Poseidon Adventure (1972, USA, dir: Ronald Neame) ****
Sherlock Holmes (2009, UK/Aus/USA, dir: Guy Ritchie) ****
Kung Fu Panda (2008, USA, dir: Mark Osborne & John Stevenson) ****
Encounters At The End Of The World (2007, USA, dir: Werner Herzog) ***
Russian Ark (2002, Rus/Ger, dir: Aleksandr Sokurov) ***
Full Metal Jacket (1987, UK/USA, dir: Stanley Kubrick) *****
The Proposal (2009, USA, dir: Anne Fletcher) ***
Taken (2008, Fra, dir: Pierre Morel) ***
Twilight (2008, USA, dir: Catherine Hardwicke) **
Miss Congeniality (2000, USA/Aus, dir: Donald Petrie) ***
Mars Attacks! (1996, USA, dir: Tim Burton) ***
As Good As It Gets (1997, USA, dir: James L. Brooks) *****
The Good Shepherd (2006, USA, dir: Robert De Niro) ****
Hunger (2008, UK/Ire, dir: Steve McQueen) ****
Eyes Wide Shut (1999, UK/USA, dir: Stanley Kubrick) ****
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994, UK/Ger/USA, dir: Joel Coen) ****
Twister (1996, USA, dir: Jan De Bont) ***
The Witches Of Eastwick (1987, USA, dir: George Miller) ****

February:
Gilda (1946, USA, dir: Charles Vidor) ***
The Mist (2007, USA, dir: Frank Darabont) *****
The September Issue (2009, USA, dir: R. J. Cutler) ***
The Kid Stays In The Picture (2002, USA, dir: Nanette Burstein & Brett Morgen) **
Music And Lyrics (2007, USA, dir: Marc Lawrence) ***
Monsters vs. Aliens (2009, USA, dir: Rob Letterman & Conrad Vernon) ***
Anatomy Of A Murder (1959, USA, dir: Otto Preminger) ****
Repulsion (1965, UK, dir: Roman Polanski) ****
Dark Habits (1983, Esp, dir: Pedro Almodovar) ***
Avatar (2009, USA/UK, dir: James Cameron) ****
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009, UK/USA, dir: David Yates) ****

March:
Marathon Man (1976, USA, dir: John Schlesinger) ****
The Battle Of Britain (1969, UK, dir: Guy Hamilton) ***
Beaches (1988, USA, dir: Garry Marshall) ***
The Lost Boys (1987, USA, dir: Joel Schumacher) ****
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008, UK, dir: Mike Leigh) ****
Hedwig & The Angry Inch (2001, USA, dir: John Cameron Mitchell) *****
In The Loop (2009, UK, dir: Armando Iannucci) ****
The Wizard Of Oz (1939, USA, dir: Victor Fleming) *****
The Happening (2008, USA/Ind, dir: M. Night Shyamalan) *
Arachnophobia (1990, USA, dir: Frank Marshall) ***
The Wicker Man (1973, UK, dir: Robin Hardy) ****

April:
Vertigo (1958, USA, dir: Alfred Hitchcock) ****
Up (2009, USA, dir: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson) ****
The Blues Brothers (19680, USA, dir: John Landis) ***
Mrs. Brown (1997, UK/Ire/USA, dir: John Madden) ****
Jennifer's Body (2009, USA, dir: Karyn Kusama) ***
Lake Placid (1999, USA, dir: Steve Miner) ***
Magnolia (1999, USA, dir: Paul Thomas Anderson) *****
Flags Of Our Fathers ***
The Big Chill ****

May:
Rudo Y Cursi ***
The King And I ****
Cypher ***
Rosemary's Baby *****
Tremors ***
Waitress ****
Coco Before Chanel ***
Jaws 2 ***
The Lives Of Others ****

June:
Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom ***
District 9 ****
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End ***

July:
Dan In Real Life ****
Priceless ***
Evan Almighty **
The River Wild ***
In The Mood For Love *****
Sleepless In Seattle ***
Out Of Time ***
Enchanted ***
Shaun Of The Dead *****
Venus ****

August:
Female Agents ****
Hot Fuzz ****
Groundhog Day *****
Matilda ***
2012 ***
Factotum ***
The Empire Strikes Back *****
Return Of The Jedi ****
Grosse Pointe Blank ****
Team America: World Police ****
Belleville Rendezvous ****
Alice In Wonderland ***
Metropolis (restored version) *****
The Fly ****

September:
Transformers ***
Adventureland ****
Quantum Of Solace ****
Dr. No ****
From Russia With Love ****
Goldfinger *****
Thunderball ***
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day ****
You Only Live Twice ***
Aliens ****
Alien 3 ***
Alien: Resurrection ***
Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time ***
Clash Of The Titans (2010) **
Made In Dagenham ****
Juno ***

October:
On Her Majesty's Secret Service ****
Stand By Me ****
The Counterfeiters ****
The Game ****
Manhunter ***
Gattaca ***
Great Expectations *****
Psycho *****
Miller's Crossing ****
Zombieland ***
Star Trek: The Motion Picture ***
Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan ****
Star Trek: Generations ***
Star Trek: First Contact ****

November:
Diamonds Are Forever *
Red ***
La Antena ***
Pulp Fiction *****
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest *****
Raiders Of The Lost Ark *****
Gosford Park ****

December:
Bridget Jones' Diary ***
Dial M For Murder ****
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock ***
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ***
Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone ***
Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets ***
Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban ****

Star Trek

Oh my God. Amazing amazing! Big fucking music boom boom! Fucking hell, I loved it. Amazing cinematography, and spot on acting. And so sexy and paced and what is it Scotty says? "Exciting!"

Woo! 4 stars.

Early March Films for Chris

White Chicks * I laughed a few times. It skirts around but manages to exploit racism, sexism and homophobia while being ambivalent about them. It's not about what unacceptable things aren't actually said, it's about the assumptions behind the things they do say, and where the laughs come from. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it?

There is a big black guy who's penis is so big that you are left in a wheel chair after a night with him. He falls in lust with one of the white chicks, who is actually a male black FBI agent in drag and made up like a white chick they are protecting. - No explanation of why they had to use male agents - They go to a disco, and the white chick resists his advances. The next morning, we find a young white male socialite, whom we saw last night, smooching inappropriately with a dog; in a wheel chair with the black guy telling him to hush up. (Because brothers do it on the down-low, geddit). When the black guy finds out that the white chick he liked is actually a black man, he is disgusted. The FBI agent sympathises, he's a man, ha ha! No, says the black guy, it's because he isn't white, bleugh!

Van Helsing *** Somehow, despite this being as silly as Sky Captain, this was much better. Great camera works swooshing about and pretty good CGI and fast paced vampires and werewolves.

The Watchmen **** Well, I haven't actually seen the film yet, instead I read the book, the graphic novel. Set on an alternative timeline where super-heroes, more like Batman than Superman exist, this is a story of the point, or no point, futility or miracle of humanity. Even though it is set in 1985 and is VERY 1980s, it resonate and translates quite well to today, that 80s setting inspires some hope. The nuclear threat was so obvious and real and seamingly insolvable in the 80s, and yet a few years later it was solved but only to be replaced with new problems that also need solving. The new problem is in a way harder than the old problem, but is the solution and message in the book the same answer we need to find today, or is it futile because our solutions will result in new problems? But is that a reason to give up? If the film captures this it will be great.

February Films, for Chris

I'm recuperating from an operation, watching my crappy library of Film Four and Christmas 2008 film recordings off Freeview. Here are some micro-reviews with star ratings, out of 5:

Sky Captain and the World of Tommorow ** this is not a terrible film. I guess it is a children's film, the plot is so contrived that it must be. The acting is alright though, although it should be, given the actors (Jude, Angelina, Gwyneth).

Helvetica *** The smell of eau de fart fills the room as typesetters and fontographers fulminate on the rise (60s), fall (90s) and rise again (naughties) of the font Helvetica. They mentioned the Microsoft copy of Helvetica (Arial) in the film, but somehow forgot to mention Apple's copy, Geneva even though all of those toting computers were pimping pro Macs. Yep, it helps to be a Mac nerd to enjoy this. To celebrate, this paragraph is presented in...Helvetica.

The Devil Wears Prada ** This is rather a girly film it turns out. It is certainly funny in parts, but a bit like Sky Captain, it is a tad beyond my ability to suspend dis-belief.

Mr and Mrs Smith ** Swashbuckling for sure, but not at all the film I expected. I kind of get it, they were married but didn't know that they were 'hitmen' working for opposing teams. For 6 years. I suppose it is possible. Possibly.

Nick's movie viewing 2009

January:
The Savages (2007, USA, dir: Tamara Jenkins) ***
Road To Perdition (2002, USA, dir: Sam Mendes) ****
The Purple Rose Of Cairo (1985, USA, dir: Woody Allen) ***
Finding Neverland (2004, USA/UK, dir: Marc Forster) *****
Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind (2002, USA/UK/Ger, dir: George Clooney) ****
Hannah And Her Sisters (1986, USA, dir: Woody Allen) ****
Unbreakable (2000, USA, dir: M. Night Shyamalan) ***
Fierce Creatures (1997, UK/USA, dir: Fred Schepisi & Robert Young) ***
Sex, Lies & Videotape (1989, USA, dir: Steven Soderbergh) ****
The Incredible Hulk (2008, USA, dir: Louis Leterrier) ***
A History Of Violence (2005, USA/Germany, dir: David Cronenberg) ****
Crimes And Misdemeanors (1989, USA, dir: Woody Allen) ****
The Untouchables (1987, USA, dir: Brian De Palma) ****
Slumdog Millionaire (2008, UK/USA, dir: Danny Boyle) ****
Brick (2005, USA, dir: Rian Johnson) ****
49th Parallel (1941, UK, dir: Michael Powell) ***
De-Lovely (2004, USA/UK, dir: Irwin Winkler) ***
Patriot Games (1992, USA, dir: Philip Noyce) ***
No Country For Old Men (2007, USA, dir: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen) ****
Little Women (1994, USA, dir: Gillian Armstrong) ***

February:
Das Boot (1981, W. Germany, dir: Wolfgang Petersen) *****

Shrek (2001, USA, dir: Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson) ****
The Man With The Golden Gun (1974, UK, dir: Guy Hamilton) **
Batman Begins (2005, USA, dir: Christopher Nolan) *****

Lars And The Real Girl (2007, USA, dir: Craig Gillespie) ****
Happy Feet (2006, Aus/USA, dir: George Miller & Warren Coleman) **

The Dish (2000, Aus, dir: Rob Sitch) ***

In The Shadow Of The Moon (2007, UK/USA, dir: David Sington) ****
The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp (1943, UK, dir: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger) *****

Iron Man (2008, USA, dir: Jon Favreau) ****

Be Kind Rewind (2008, USA, dir: Michel Gondry) ****

And When Did You Last See Your Father? (2007, UK/Ire, dir: Anand Tucker) ***

Patton (1970, USA, dir: Franklin J. Schaffner) ****

Casablanca (1942, USA, dir: Michael Curtiz) *****

Spiderman (2002, USA, dir: Sam Raimi) ****

Chinatown (1974, USA, dir: Roman Polanski) *****

In The Hands Of The Gods (2007, UK, dir: Benjamin Turner & Gabe Turner) ****

The Little Mermaid (1989, USA, dir: Ron Clements & John Musker) ***

March:

The Sum Of All Fears (2002, USA/Ger, dir: Phil Alden Robinson) ***

A Canterbury Tale (1944, UK, dir: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger) ***

Grosse Point Blank (1997, USA, dir: George Armitage) ****

The Red Shoes (1948, UK, dir: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger) *****

Ballets Russes (2005, USA, dir: Daniel Geller & Dayna Goldfine) ****

Watchmen (2009, USA, dir: Zack Snyder) **

Apocalypto (2006, USA, dir: Mel Gibson) ****

The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008, UK/USA, dir: Andrew Adamson) ***

Sliding Doors (1998, UK/USA, dir: Peter Howitt) ***

Lucky Number Slevin (2006, Ger/USA, dir: Paul McGuigan) ***

The Dead Zone (1983, USA, dir: David Cronenberg) ***

Singin' In The Rain (1952, USA, dir: Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly) *****

Strangers On A Train (1951, USA, dir: Alfred Hitchcock) ****

April:

The Abyss (1989, USA, dir: James Cameron) ****

Mission Impossible III (2006, Ger/USA, dir: J. J. Abrams) ****

The Sound Of Music (1965, USA, dir: Robert Wise) ****

Quantum Of Solace (2008, UK/USA, dir: Marc Forster) ***

March Of The Penguins (2005, Fra, dir: Luc Jacquet) ****

Finding Nemo (2003, USA, dir: Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich) ****

Casino Royale (2006, UK/USA/Ger/Cze, dir: Martin Campbell) *****

Once (2006, Ire, dir: John Carney) *****

King Arthur (2004, USA/UK/Ire, dir: Antoine Fuqua) **

Deliverance (1972, USA, dir: John Boorman) ****

May:

Role Models (2008, USA/Ger, dir: David Wain) ***

Valkyrie (2008, USA/Ger, dir: Bryan Singer) ***

Aladdin (1992, USA, dir: Ron Clements & John Tusker) ****

28 Days (2000, USA, dir: Betty Thomas) ***

I Am Legend (2007, USA/Aus, dir: Francis Lawrence) ***

Charlie's Angels (2000, USA/Ger, dir: McG) **

Blades Of Glory (2007, USA, dir: Josh Gordon & Will Speck) **

PS: I Love You (2007, USA, dir: Richard LaGravenese) ***

Wild Hogs (2007, USA, dir: Walt Becker) ***

30 Days Of Night (2007, USA, dir: David Slade) ***

Yes Man (2008, USA/Aus, dir: Peyton Reed) ***

Bedtime Stories (2008, USA, dir: Adam Shankman) ***

Waitress (2007, USA, dir: Adrienne Shelly) ****

Tropic Thunder (2008, USA/Ger, dir: Ben Stiller) **

Heat (1995, USA, dir: Michael Mann) ****

The Interpreter (2005, UK/USA/Fra, dir: Sydney Pollack) ***

Starship Troopers (1997, USA, dir: Paul Verhoeven) ***

Coraline (2009, USA, dir: Henry Selick) ****

June:

The Motorcycle Diaries (2004, Arg/UK/USA/Ger, dir: Walter Salles) ****

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008, UK/USA, dir: Justin Chadwick) ***

Get Smart (2008, USA, dir: Peter Segal) ***

Zodiac (2007, USA, dir: David Fincher) ****

Van Diemen's Land (2009, Aus, dir: Jonathan Auf Der Heide) **

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989, USA, dir: Steven Spielberg) ***

Pomegranates And Myrrh (2008, Pal, dir: Najwa Najjar) ***

The One Man Village (2008, Leb, dir: Simon El Habre) ****

Sin Nombre (2009, Mex/USA, dir: Cary Fukunaga) ****

Can Go Through Skin (2009, Neth, dir: Esther Rots) ***

Mary and Max (2009, Aus, dir: Adam Elliot) ****

Citizen Kane (1942, USA, dir: Orson Welles) *****

July:

An Affair To Remember (1957, USA, dir: Leo McCarey) ****

Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004, UK/USA, dir: Alfonso Cuaron) ****

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (2005, UK/USA, dir: Mike Newell) ***

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2007, UK/USA, dir: David Yates) ****

Clue (1985, USA, dir: Jonathan Lynn) **

Mansfield Park (1999, UK, dir: Patricia Rozema) ***

Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994, UK, dir: Mike Newell) *****

Fallen (1998, USA, dir: Gregory Hoblit) ***

How To Lose Friends And Alienate People (2008, UK, dir: Robert B. Weide) ***

New York, New York (1977, USA, dir: Martin Scorsese) ***

Red Cliff (2008, Chi, dir: John Woo) ***

August:

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004, USA, dir: Michel Gondry) *****

Chocolat (2000, UK/USA, dir: Lasse Halstrom) ****

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997, USA, dir: P. J. Hogan) ***

The Ice Storm (1997, USA, dir: Ang Lee) ****

Mermaids (1990, USA, dir: Richard Benjamin) ***

Clash Of The Titans (1981, USA, dir: Desmond Davis) ***

The Graduate (1967, USA, dir: Mike Nichols) *****

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002, USA, dir: Don Coscarelli) ****

The Castle (1997, Aus, dir: Rob Sitch) ****

Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995, USA, dir: John McTiernan) ***

Urban Legend (1998, USA/France, dir: Jamie Blanks) ***

Sherrybaby (2006, USA, dir: Laurie Collyer) ***

September:

Angels And Demons (2009, USA, dir: Ron Howard) ***

Splitting Heirs (1993, UK, dir: Robert Young) **

Hercules (1997, USA, dir: Ron Clements & John Musker) ****

Two Weeks Notice (2002, USA/Aus, dir: Mac Lawrence) ***

Inglourious Basterds (2009, USA/Ger, dir: Quentin Tarantino) ****

Death On The Nile (1978, UK, dir: John Guillermin) ***

Half Nelson (2006, USA, dir: Ryan Fleck) ****

Munich (2005, USA/Can/Fra, dir: Steven Spielberg) ****

October:

Mamma Mia! (2008, UK/USA/Ger, dir: Phyllida Lloyd) *

Pride And Prejudice (2005, UK/Fra, dir: Joe Wright) ****

300 (2006, USA, dir: Zack Snyder) ***

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988, USA, dir: Robert Zemeckis) ****

Serenity (2005, USA, dir: Joss Whedon) ****

Shotgun Stories (2007, USA, dir: Jeff Nichols) ***

Vantage Point (2008, USA, dir: Pete Travis) ***

Man On Wire (2008, UK/USA, dir: James Marsh) ****

Three Men And A Baby (1987, USA, dir: Leonard Nimoy) ***

The Haunting (1963, USA, dir: Robert Wise) *****

November:

An Education (2009, UK, dir: Lone Scherfig) ****

Dim Sum: A Little Bit Of Heart (1985, USA, dir: Wayne Wang) ***

Alien (1979, UK/USA, dir: Ridley Scott) *****

Clear And Present Danger (1994, USA, dir: Phillip Noyce) ***

Quantum Of Solace (2008, UK/USA, dir: Marc Forster) ****

Diamonds Are Forever (1971, UK, dir: Guy Hamilton) ***

December:

Touching The Void (2003, UK, dir: Kevin McDonald) *****

Batman Begins (2005, USA, dir: Christopher Nolan) *****

West Side Story (1961, USA, dir: Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins) ****

City Of God (2002, Bra/Fra, dir: Fernando Meirelles) *****

High Fidelity (2000, UK/USA, dir: Stephen Frears) ****

Dreamgirls (2006, USA, dir: Bill Condon) ****

The Muppets' Christmas Carol (1992, USA, dir: Brian Henson) ****

Love Actually (2003, UK/USA, dir: Richard Curtis) ****

Star Trek (2009, USA/Ger, dir: J. J. Abrams) ****

The Incredibles (2004, USA, dir: Brad Bird) ****

Let The Right One In (2008, Swe, dir: Tomas Alfredson) ****

The Edge Of Love (2008, UK, dir: John Maybury) ****

The Dark Knight (2008, USA/UK, dir: Christopher Nolan) ****

Monkey: Journey to the West

So, I was going to have to miss this because I was going to have a foot operation at just the moment (just after Christmas) that I wanted to see this.  But what a coincidence, first I get a call from the hospital postponing the operation, then I get a call from my cousin saying that this is my Christmas present, and oops!  It is tonight!.  So I'm tapping this out on the bus back to Lewisham from the O2.

Fairly spectacular venue, pretty spectacular performance.  I already had the soundtrack off iTunes and the stage version sounded similar but it was brought into a different universe by the performances.  I only vaguely remember Monkey Magic as a boy, but I remember enough to see that this little opera has captured the essence.

That naughty monkey, superbly played, every whimsical move, so light and yet powerful, a real delight, but nothing compared to the elastic fantastic acrobatics.  I could not believe the contortions of the Spider woman and the dancers at the peach party.  Entertaining and fantastic!

'Beyond The Sea'

Beyond The Sea (dir: Kevin Spacey, 2004, USA/Ger/UK)

It's an odd experience to see Kevin Spacey dancing. It's not something we've seen him do too much over the years - we never saw Lester Burnham do the polka or Keyser Soze swept away in the midst of a cha-cha, so the big dance numbers here take a bit of getting used to.

Spacey stars as legendary crooner Bobby Darin as well as directing this, his dream project as a huge Darin fanboy. The performance is good although it's difficult to tell whether he has Darin down, so little footage of the 50s superstar have I seen. Spacey though does much of the singing and has a pretty good voice - the music itself is fantastic, as you would expect, and pulls the movie through its baggier moments.

Despite some potentially dark events in Darin's life (all touched on here to varying degrees) this is an unashamedly large and lavish production. Don't let the thought of 45-year-old Spacey as a twenty-something Darin put you off - he holds his own during the big numbers more often than not, even compared to the pro dancers that surround him. It doesn't matter whether you are a Bobby Darin afficionado or essentially clueless about his life and career (as I was), this film will enlighten and entertain at the same time. Good fun.

3 Stars ***

'Stage Beauty'

Stage Beauty (dir: Richard Eyre, 2004, UK/Ger/USA)

So, here we go - the first movie posting on the blog. Hoorah and, more to the point, whoopee! If only I knew how to make the page look better and more fun to use. I suppose it will all come in time.

'Stage Beauty' was a movie barely seen by anybody on release and it's difficult to work out why. I assume the answer is something as boring as slovenly marketing or a limited release but whatever the reason it's a shame and a half. This is a wonderfully-acted period piece that deserves a wider audience than it has received in the four years since it first graced our screens (or 'screen', most probably).

And so, a vague set-up: it's the swinging 1660's and Ned Kynaston (a particularly lithe Billy Crudup) is one of the shining lights of the London stage. It is illegal for women to take to the boards and thus all female roles are played by men, Ned among them. His assistant Maria (Claire Danes) gazes on from the wings with unrequited adoration for Ned and a growing passion for acting itself, so much so that she starts to sneak away at the end of his shows to play Desdemona in 'Othello' at a local tavern. Ooooh slapped wrist. Anyway through various plot machinations both Ned and Maria are invited to 'The Palace', homestead of King Charles II, and after much playful dinner-time banter the king decides that enough is enough and that women should be able to play women on the stages of England.

Crudup's performance as a riches-to-rags Kynaston (a real cross-gender performer of 17th Century London) is magnificently layered - Ned's acerbic wit and confident swagger in the first half of the film is very swiftly replaced by dejected bitterness as the film unfolds. The grudging realisation of his being surplus to requirements is perfectly played here and it is a bit of a shame that the film itself does not match up to the central performance. Danes is solid and there is definite chemistry between the two leads but the movie is slightly baggy in the middle, lacking clarity on what exactly it wants to be. The direction is not as sharp as, say, 'Shakespeare In Love' - a film that 'Beauty' seemingly aspires to - and it is not quite clear whether the film-makers wanted to produce a comedy, a drama, a period romance or a serious commentary on what it was like for these actors once they were no longer needed. It does all of these things but none of them completely successfully.

Supporting performances by stalwarts of the British stage and screen such as Richard Griffiths, the fantastic Tom Wilkinson and a rather foppish Rupert Everett as Charles II are good as you would expect despite a sometimes schizophrenic screenplay which offsets clunky exposition with biting one-liners with frightening regularity.

The acting though is strong enough to shrug off the bugbears of script and direction and pull the film through to a rousing finale. The whole exercise does make one wonder why Crudup and Danes make so few movies when they are so much more talented than the average Hollywood actor - the hope is that it is through their own choice and not through lack of offers. That would be just criminal. Great acting in a film that should have been better.

3 Stars ***

Chocolate - Thai Kung-foo

It's Bruce Lee in the body of a teenage girl. I don't like gangster films in principle. I don't see how you can have good and bad gangsters, but here we are. A forbidden love (or is it jealously, cuckoldry?); exile with a mentally disturbed love child; a past forgotten and then stumbled on by the children years later. Ok. But the girl is special, super reflexes, learns kung foo from watching movies. Hmm. Eventually she fights, unwittingly restarting her parents old turf war, and that's were the Jackie Chan style comedy begins.

The fight scenes are superb and get bigger and bigger until the climax of the film. That's entertainment y'all.



Posted with LifeCast

Burn After Reading

I'm a bit late to this party I think, but I went over to the Greenwich Picture House (with a friend) to see Burn After Reading. All I knew was that it was a Coen Brothers flick with Clooney and (an older looking) Brad Pitt in it, and that it was about an attempt to find a missing disc. Oh if only it were that simple!

It starts off by introducing the main charectors, except they are not, they appear later and appear totally unrelated. This is not a film for either the casual observer, the unattentive or the tired. It weaves the two groups of people together deliciously or should that be ridiculously?

I am not sure. The premise is beliveable, blackmail to extort money for plastic surgery, but how they go about it is so mind-boggling. It is so "Washington" it verges on alienating. But I think it is really a study in stress induced temporary insanity. All the charecters are stressed and all express it in their own way, George Clooney's charector in particular. The dirty old boy. And then you realise that the film is remarkably and violently explicit. Real murder scenes. Golly what a film.

Posted with LifeCast

This Is War

What the hell? First entry isn't even about a film! No, Geth and I went to the Barbican last Thursday to see This is war! A photographic exhibition of war...memories? I hestitate to say "art" as it was all real; and moving, and educative. Upstairs you are close to the action with what would now be called photo-journalism from the Spanish civil war, the Japanese invasion of China and the Allied invasion in WWII. Downstairs is Iraq.

I was reminded of a tv program made by Dan Cruickshank of the BBC about the treasures in the museums around Bagdad. How naive to think the Americans had a plan to preserve order and heritage like that. The disaster was re-told through mobile phones, video and story telling. All very innovative, matching the innovation upstairs from Robert Capa and his partner Gerda Taro, her photos, on square format paper and his from a Leica, rectangular were so obvious, matter of fact and so clear that I found it hard to relate to them as real events, perhaps because, they didn't look like they were in the past at all, it just looked normal. How odd, the idea of normal people going to war!

The highlight upstairs is the famous photograph of the Fallen Soldier, captured at the point of death, life draining. This was in Spain, and Capa delivered another of these in Germany. I am such a layman, I'd not heard of or seen any of these, I don't know the history of the Spanish civil war. Context and back-story leads to appreciation I think.

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