What I Watched This Week (w/e October 12th 2008)

Blu-ray

The Orphanage - This is one of those films that comes along when genre fans like me despair for the future of horror films. It reminds us why we love horror as there is such beauty and tragedy to be found in a film designed to unsettle and scare you. It is brilliantly directed by J. A. Bayona and there's a reason why Guillermo del Toro presented and produced it: it's terrific. :D

http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108762"">Zombie Strippers - It's not the greatest horror movie ever made, it's not consistently laugh-out-loud funny but it's entertaining and smarter than it lets on. :)

DVD

Imitation of Life - As part of my Screen Aesthetics module at Uni I had to watch this, as the module concentrates on melodrama, and this 1959 film by Douglas Sirk is almost a rehabilitation film for Lana Turner following a downturn in her career and explicit details of an S&M relationship with a mobster had hit the press. The film plays on the life imitating art imitating life, with a large degree of artifice in each. Sirk uses race interestingly, with the genre staple of a fractious relationship between a mother and daughter compounded when the mulatto daughter of a black woman wants to pass herself off as white. Turner is impressive and Sirk's direction intelligent but this isn't my type of film and, even though I watched it twice, I can't say I liked it. :|

The Big Lebowski - I don't know what my favourite Coen brothers film is - I keep settling on one and then changing my mind for another. Sometimes it's Fargo, sometimes Miller's Crossing, recently No Country for Old Men but every time I watch this I seriously consider it as my favourite. A fine neo-noir with brilliant dialogue, characters and situations, there are moments that have you giggling to yourself for hours or even days afterwards. Everyone from Jeff Bridges to Flea are fantastic and the writing and direction top class, making this a film that I never tire of watching. :D

http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108898"">The Guard Post - From the Korean director that made R-Point comes a new horror mystery set on the Korean border, repeating the military theme. A more accomplished film than his debut feature but, for my money at least, is less enjoyable. :)

http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108796"">The Passage - Beautifully shot in Morocco and with a fine performance by Stephen Dorff, this is memorable for a sequence in barely lit tunnels, rivalling The Descent for suspense. :)

http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108778"">Memories of Underdevelopment - An intelligent and important film about the situation in post-revolution Cuba. It's just a shame that the DVD only contains a gallery and the picture is so poor. :)

http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108995"">Chocolate - From the director of Ong-Bak and Warrior King comes another violent martial arts fest where the story takes second place to the action. :|

http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108962"">Skinwalkers - A distinctly average werewolf movie that takes itself too seriously. :|

Cinema

Death Race - I didn't expect this to be a masterfully crafted piece of high art but suspected it might be some dumb fun that would prove a decent way to pass two hours. It wasn't. Paul W. S. Anderson has managed to make a film that is crass, stupid, juvenile, offensive and, despite the automotive carnage, unbelievably boring. >:(