Film 2008

[Easy 10]

Blood Diamond

Apart from obsessively ending every sentence with "eh ?" in his sith ifrican accent, Di Caprio is actually superb as a mercenary diamond smuggler in war-torn Sierra Leone. Nicely paced and gripping throughout with some great set pieces, this is good solid entertainment that should not be missed.

8.5

Battle for Haditha

Docu-drama focussing on the true story of a group of US Marines who in 2005 apparently slaughtered 24 men, women and children (or "insurgents" as they called them) in a revenge attack for the killing of one of their officers by a roadside bomb. The hand-held camera and lack of any recognisable stars gives this a truley gritty, authentic feel. Brilliantly acted, totally convincing, and hugely disturbing. I now know exactly how to plant a roadside bomb.

8.7

 

[John Bumlick]

had myself a low-brow action fest this past weekend after finding First Blood and The Running Man for sale on DVD for 5 dollars each.

passed a few empty hours but i was left with 2 questions...

did stallone suffer a stroke shortly before or during filming the last scene in First Blood? his (albeit limited) dialogue was clear and well enunciated until that final scene. haven't been able to understand a word the man has said since.

did the casting director of The Running Man ruin the telling of a potentially good story by employing various wrestlers and bodybuilders as 'actors'? having said that, i am somewhat ashamed to admit that i did actually quite enjoy it.

 

[Captain Haddock]

Thats a pretty fair assessment although I did see Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom 7 times at the cinema. Temple of Doom has a story which allows the unfolding of action scene after action scene. Raiders is a superlatively told tale and one of cinema's greats but The Last Crusade is actually my favourite as the candour between Ford and Connery just raise the bar a little further. I worry the Crystal Skull will not be able to ever live up to the expectation.

The last Crusade 9.0
Raiders 8.9
Temple of Doom 8.5

I'm nervous but hopeful.

 

[Captain Haddock]

Thats a pretty fair assessment although I did see Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom 7 times at the cinema. Temple of Doom has a story which allows the unfolding of action scene after action scene. Raiders is a superlatively told tale and one of cinema's greats but The Last Crusade is actually my favourite as the candour between Ford and Connery just raise the bar a little further. I worry the Crystal Skull will not be able to ever live up to the expectation.

The last Crusade 9.0
Raiders 8.9
Temple of Doom 8.5

I'm nervous but hopeful.

 

[Captain Haddock]

So nervous that I'm posting twice!

 

[Captain Haddock]

So nervous that I'm posting twice!

 

[Man of Harveys]

The Bicycle Thieves. I'd heard it was a bit of a classic and it far from disappointed. Brilliant, haunting but subtle and stirring film. 9.5

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Stardust

A reasonably entertaining tale with an amusing turn from Bob De Niro. Not a bad story and ok

6.8

Mee She The Water Giant

A fun family film with an eco message, good fun for under 10's and me

6.4

 

[Les Biehn]

The Bicycle Thieves. I'd heard it was a bit of a classic and it far from disappointed. Brilliant, haunting but subtle and stirring film. 9.5

That film had quite an impact on me but for different reasons. The use of long takes and wide shots to allow the audience the opportunity to take in what they see and make their own judgements seemed really interesting to me.

Read some of Andre Bazin if your interested in the theory of this.

 

[Man of Harveys]

I will - I'd heard of his Cahiers Du Cinema, will check him out.

 

[Easy 10]

Falling Down

Michael Douglas snaps and goes apeshit in downtown LA. Not seen this film for years but caught it again the other night on ITV4, and its every bit as good as I remember. The burger bar scene is a classic, as well as the heart-attack victim on the golf course. "And now you're gonna die, wearing that stupid little hat. Hows THAT feel ?"

8.8

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Falling down is in my top 30, I love it

8.5

 

[Goodfella]

'Shine A Light'
Had a sneak preview this morning of this long awaited documentary of the Rolloing Stones by Scorsese, absolute top notch, with unseen rare footage, and behind the scenes, not to missed by any fans of the stones/scorsese, or indeed music itself.
9

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Easy I seem to remember he wasted some Nazi sicko, that was class.

 

[Easy 10]

Easy I seem to remember he wasted some Nazi sicko, that was class.

Homophobic nazi sicko. That is correct. Stabs him in the shoulder then shoots him in the back after the guy'd smashed his daughters pink-unicorn-in-a-snowstorm birthday present.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

It's what any man would have done to be fair. I think it was the Nazi's comment " we are just the same me and you " was the clincher.

 

[Trufflehound]

Plan 9 From Outer Space

I'm always a bit nervous of films that are "so bad they're actually quite good", but this one lived perfectly up to expectations.

Yes, the cardboard cemetery headstones wobble every time sometime kicks one. You can see the shadows of the scenery on the studio wall during the "night" scenes.
You can see the strings holding up the wobbly flying saucers (which are round even though the eye witnesses describe them as "cigar-shaped"). Dead Bela Lugosi's stand-in doesn't look a bit like him. The script IS excrutiatingly bad. And among a cast of complete losers, Vampira and Tor Johnson in particular couldn't act if their lives depended on it.

But all in all it was very satisfying viewing.

1.3 for artistic merit. 7.5 for entertainment value.

 

[Trufflehound]

The Bicycle Thieves. I'd heard it was a bit of a classic and it far from disappointed. Brilliant, haunting but subtle and stirring film. 9.5

Number 2 on my list of "saddest films ever made" (number 1 is Tokyo Story btw).

9.2

 

[Trufflehound]

The Filth and the Fury

The perfect antidote to anything. Lots of swearing, loud punk music, and Sid Vicious behaving like a total cock.

Marvellous

8.8

Almost as good as Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten (8.9)

 

[John Bumlick]

i saw There Will Be Blood again last night. coming to the end of its run at the last theatre in town still showing it and we were the only 4 people there. only thing missing was a remote control to stop the movie whilst i went for a piss...