Page 1 of What I watched this week (w/e Sunday 29th May)

On DVD:

The Exorcist - I began the week by reading the novel by William Peter Batty and then decided to watch the greatest horror movie ever made, one of the best films of all time and my favourite movie. :D

The Exorcist: The Version You Haven't Seen - I'm not sure which version I prefer; the original cut has a better opening and ending IMO but this version is slightly closer to the book with the important conversation on the stairs between Fathers Merrin and Karras which explains the reason for the possession. :D

King of the Hill: Season 2 - As good as Season 1, KotH is funny and a wry observation of Texas, Texans and the U.S. in general. :)

King of the Hill: Season 3 - Carries on where Season 2 left off; excellent stuff. :)

Red River - An epic western by John Huston in which Montgomery Clift drives John Wayne's cattle across America to sell them. The direction is brilliant, with Huston using hundreds of cows and horses and the open plains of America to convey the distance travelled; Clift puts in an assured performance and Wayne is, as usual, 'The Duke'. :D

Glory - The true story of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts, the first all black regiment to fight in the U.S. Civil War is well directed by Edward Zwick, with some excellent battle scenes and a wonderful score. Matthew Broderick is perfectly cast as the young idealistic officer who, with Cary Elwes, starts the regiment; Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington are both superb as soldiers from different backgrounds and with different outlooks on life. :D

Sullivan's Travels - In order to find out about real life, a director escapes from his studio and pretends to be homeless; on his travels he finds Veronica Lake, imprisonment and that life as an ordinary guy is more interesting than life as a protected and privileged director. Similar in message to Frank Capra's 'Capracorn' films, this is well directed and acted, this is not a great movie but well worth watching. :)

The Day the Earth Stood Still - In 1951 America, a U.F.O. lands and a spaceman by the name of Klaatu appears only to be promptly shot and hospitalised by a soldier; he then escapes from hospital and assumes the name 'Carpenter' (one of a number of religious references) in order to study the earth and the human race. The overriding message that the new atomic age is a danger to the earth and other planets is well told and it is incredible how much society has changed in the 50 years since the film was made. :)

The Sweet Hereafter - Ian Holm plays a lawyer seeking to represent the victims of a bus crash and cope with a taut relationship with his drug addict daughter. Writer/director Atom Egoyan tells the story of how the crash affected the small Canadian town very well with some beautiful snow-swept exterior shots and moving interviews. :)

Rio Bravo - Unlike the films of Ford and Huston, much of this film is filmed on small sets or sound stages with little of the 'wild west' appearing on film. Rio Bravo is slow, very little happens for much of the 140 minute running time but Hawks' direction and the acting by Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Angie Dickinson holds the attention and keeps the tension up for the whole movie. :)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - I had read the books but not seen the TV series prior to the film and, whilst watching this, realised what a good job they had made of the film with possibly an even better cast and dialogue that was straight from the books and the TV show. :)

To Be or Not To Be - Mel Brooks is an actor in a Polish theatre in the late 1930's and has to adapt to life under the Nazis; he and Anne Bancroft then become involved in the Polish resistance which is very grateful for the theatre's store of Nazi uniforms and Brooks' skills of impersonation. Not up there with Mel Brooks' best work but well written and very funny. :)

Oldboy - Chan-wook Park's revenge masterpiece features some stunningly choreographed fight scenes, 'dentist' scenes that put Marathon Man in the shade and a quite extraordinary performance by Min-sik Choi as Oh Dae-Su, a businessman who was imprisoned for 15 years. :D 8)

The Ladykillers (1955) - This brilliant black comedy from Ealing Studios is superbly written and acted, with an excellent performance from Sir Alec Guinness; the film is an absolute classic which, quite frankly, p***es all over the Coen Brothers' appalling remake. :D

Rushmore - All I can do is repeat what I wrote last time I watched this DVD: "Max Fisher (Schwartzman) is at the prestigious Rushmore School and flunks school academically whilst being number 1 at extra curricular activities and writing, directing and starring in plays based on Serpico and Apocalypse Now. Wes Anderson's first major movie and, whilst not up there with The Royal Tenenbaums, is an excellent comedy with superb performances from Bill Murray, Olivia Williams and Jason Schwartzman." :D



On cable:
The Champions League Final - One of the best games I have ever seen, with skill, passion, drama, controversy and a result that pleased me no end. :D :D

Honey - I have no idea why I even started to watch this movie, it was clearly not aimed at me but there was nothing else on TV and I couldn't be bothered picking a DVD. The plot can be summed up as 8 Mile for 12 year old girls with Jessica Alba playing a hip-hop dancing instructor who is picked up by a sleazy video director. Predictable clichéd rubbish with an ending so saccharine it makes the title seem sour. :(

Paycheck - John Woo's Hollywood movies are nowhere near the standard of those he made in Hong Kong and Ben Affleck's wooden acting doesn't help Paycheck one bit; he's bad enough on his own but looks even worse when on screen with Uma Thurman, Paul Giamatti (or both). Affleck plays an engineer who earns $92 million for 3 years work which is then erased from his memory - he discovers that he has sent himself clues to allow him to remember what he did, obviously with a view to stopping or destroying whatever it was he did. Woo's car chases and set piece action scenes are up to his usual standards but the potentially interesting plot is badly handled and boring. :¦

Bulletproof Monk - Any film which finishes with Seann William Scott (American Pie's Stifler) as the sacred guardian of a precious Tibetan scroll was never likely to be anything more than a stupid and lightweight vehicle to get Scott a 'serious' role and bring Chow Yun-Fat to a wider audience. Chow spends the whole movie looking uncomfortable and his really dodgy accent doesn't help. :(



At the cinema:
The Seed of Chucky - Jennifer Tilly is the highlight of the 5th Child's Play film with a decent performance and a couple of good lines (I`m an Oscar-nominee, for god`s sake. Now look at me, I`m f***ing a doll) but the writing and direction is desperately poor to leave the film as neither a comedy nor a horror - it should have gone straight to video and saved me a waste of a cinema visit. :(


I also saw downloaded episodes of:
24 - Episodes 4.23 and 4.24 - Whilst not a finale up there with the other seasons, these 2 very good episodes rounded off another eventful day in the life of Jack Bauer. :)


My Top 20 Horror Movies ---- My DVD Collection ---- My Gremlin

DVD

Silence Of The Lambs - Scared me half to death when I saw it as a child (irresponsible parents? :D ) and to this day the sight of Ted Levine with his cock between his legs still haunts me. Howard Shore`s score is one of his best - a true modern(ish) classic.

Hannibal - IMO not nearly as bad as everyone says, mainly due to Ridley Scott`s steady direction and the frankly gorgeous photography by John Mathieson. Maybe a little OTT on the gore, but still fascinating.

Red Dragon - The first time I took Brett Ratner seriously as a director, much better than Hannibal and almost up there with Silence Of The Lambs. The romance subplot between Fiennes and Watson is really touching, especially the tiger scene.

The Day After Tomorrow - I absolutely loved this on the cinema, but with each repeat viewing it seems to get less and less appealing. The CG work is still great though (Roland Emmerich can stage a set-piece, that`s for sure), and the 5.1 on the tidal wave sequence had the neighbours complaining, so it`s not all bad :D

Evolution - Again, vastly underrated in my opinion. Some great one-liners, awesome John Powell score and Dan Ackroyd. Can`t say no to Dan Ackroyd.

Dinosaur - Absolutely amazing, one of my favourite animated movies. James Newton-Howard should have won an Oscar for the music (especially the euphoric `Stand Together` theme), and although the plot is wafer thin the CG effects and their interaction with the photographic plate shots is phenomenal. Also nice to see Carnotaurs take the spotlight from the T-Rex as the main baddie :)

Cinema

Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith - I seem to be the only one in the world who didn`t think it was all that. Apart from the John Williams score (which is edited to oblivion in the film) and a couple of truly stunning wide-angle shots, it`s the most frustrating bore of the year.

TV Episodes

24 - Decent season finale, but not as good as the others.
Lost - Superb finale with a slightly disappointing end.
Alias - Great finale with one of the most shocking and unexpected climaxes of all time.
ER - Boring finale with one good accident to keep the interest up.
CSI - Quentin Tarantino`s finale, the best of the lot as far as I`m concerned. Funny, scary and just downright cool!



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This item was edited on Monday, 30th May 2005, 00:48

`Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith - I seem to be the only one in the world who didn`t think it was all that. Apart from the John Williams score (which is edited to oblivion in the film) and a couple of truly stunning wide-angle shots, it`s the most frustrating bore of the year`

You`re not, I know loads of people who didn`t like it.

Oh and I just finished 5th season of X-Files, 6th is in the post.

This item was edited on Monday, 30th May 2005, 11:57

Paycheck: Not as bad as I thought, could of done with a bit more violence, Ben is too soft to be tough guy to be like Arnie.

Dirty Harry: Excellent thriller, with catchy phrase, but also a very good story.

Magnum Force: even better than the first, which was written by John Milius of Conan fame, and Michael Cimino of The Deer Hunter fame, very character driven story married with an excellent plot.

Enemy of the State: Enjoyable film, with the excellent Gene Hackman.

Con Air No matter how many time I watch this it`s still a fun ride.

Bad Company: Fun light hearted action film.

Dog: The Bounty Hunter
Americas Hardest Bounty Hunter
Supernanny
Nanny 911
Eye for an Eye with extreme Akeem
The Simpsons
24: okay but they should quit whilst their ahead.
Desperate Housewives Can`t wait for the final episode!!!

floyd


DVD collection

Not much this week (no Simpsons/Family Guy), but i saw downloaded eps of:

24 - Thought this season was really good, fast-paced action with no time to think about any plotholes is how 24 works best. Roll on Season 5 in January :D

Desperate Housewives - Great ending, cleared up some of the mysteries of this season and set up a good cliffhanger for next season :D

Lost - Wow. Truly stunning ending to the best new show on TV. Only bad thing about it is I`ll have to wait till September to find out what`s going to happen! :D

Father of the Pride - An unaired episode of the cancelled US aminated comedy - it`s funny in places but doesn`t hit the mark as often as something this expensive to produce should be.

The Shield - Things are tying in nicely for the Strike Team, but will they get away with it? Great stuff :D

House - Enjoyed this series - it`ll be interesting to see what happens now they throw his ex into the equation.

Revenge of the Sith - Stands up to many repeat viewings (all cinema viewings of course, you won`t catch me with a s***ty pirate copy).

Saved - Funny satire on religion. Good but not great.

Quote:
you won`t catch me with a s***ty pirate copy

Just a s***ty film ;)

floyd


DVD collection

Village of the Damned (1960) - classic British sci-fi horror. A small village experiences a couple of missing hours when everyone falls asleep, including all of the animals. Weeks later all of the women become pregnant. They give birth quickly to a bunch of super-intelligent kids who are not what they seem. A really fine movie and those kids still give me the creeps even today.

Children of The Damned (1963) - not really a sequel but more of a revision of the original. The kids already exist when the film starts but they have gathered together from all of the corners of the earth and are holed up in a delapidated church ready to take over the world.. The film has a greater political message than the first - basically "we always destroy that which we dont understand". Not as good as the original but still has some great scenes.

Spasmo (1974) - Italian Giallo from Umberto Lenzi. A very psychological thriller but with an unrealistic plot and dreadful dialogue - particularly from Suzy Kendall. The first hour is oh so slow but it does pick up a bit after that but this aint Hitchcock. The Ennio Morricone score is the best thing about it.

La Bete Humaine (1938) - Jean Renoir brings Emile Zola to the screen with Jean Gabin and Simone Simon. Set in and around the French railways this tells of a jealous murder and then the infatuation of a train driver for the wife of the station boss. As with most Zola tales it all ends tragically. Excellent filmed action sequences on the trains and some great characters make this a bit of a classic. The steamy sexuality you find in Zola is pretty close to the surface for such an early film. Hollywood would have toned it down a lot but the French were not scared to show lust on the screen.

The Lost World (1925) - the silent version of the Conan Doyle story. Mostly famous these days for the Willis Obrien stop motion animation of the dinosaurs - he would later go an to greater fame with King Kong. A really enjoyable and exciting film but avoid the Elstree Hill cheapo DVD which is not complete and has a dreadful wurlitzer organ score - the Eureka DVD version is the one to see.

Black Camel (1931) - the earliest surviving proper Chan film with Warner Oland in the role of the oriental master detective. You also get Bela Lugosi as a dodgy mystic and Dwight Fry too in this. A pretty good mystery yarn (nearly everyone is a suspect) with some nice touches of humour too - plus Chan gets to give us plenty of his homespun philosophy. Dont ask me what the title has got to do with it because there is no reference to Black Camels in the movie.

Sky Full of Stars For A Roof (1968) - a spaghetti western with Giuliano Gemma and Mario Adorf. This is an odd mix of comedy buddy-buddy picture and serious spaghetti western. Some of the action scenes are really good but the film cant decide if it wants to be a comedy or a gritty SW - it therefore fails on both counts. A pity because the director also made trhe excellent Tepepa and Death Rides A Horse. Great soundtrack from Morricone though.

Andy

I watched The Woman in Red on VHS... how old school am I?
It`s still got a great soundtrack, but at some point in my life Gene Wilder went from being funny to being very irritating... so, in effect, he is becoming more and more like Eric Idle...