Requiem for a Dream (2000)

IMDB

"Ma? Ya on uppers?"

This is rated as the 63rd-best film of all time on IMDB. Which says much more about IMDB-raters than the quality of this.

Darren Aronofsky certainly has a flair for claustrophobia; Pi was a good cinematic experience, and it's nice to see the mastery of camera and added effects, but the film itself doesn't stand up to repeated views.

Read the same for Requiem.

There seems to be a lot of masturbatory self-congratulation of the part of Guardian-reading students who enjoy this. In my experience. Nothing wrong with The Guardian, or with university, mind. But the film did very little for me - the characters are far too one-dimensional, and I don't care about any of them. I'm sure there's some postmodernism in that decision but it does mean the viewer spends 100 minutes watching losers waste their time and their lives while apparently affecting no-one else in the world (except allowing some 'racist cop' stereotype to annoy the audience). I'm sure the aforementioned masturbator feels their lives are made valuable by drink/drugs/vice but they're in control so it's fine.

Yes, they all use addiction to escape an existential quandary but there seems to be no message that a six-year-old couldn't explain to you in the park.

Get a life and do something, for fuck's sake.

Risky Business (1983)

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"I don't believe this! I've got a trig midterm tomorrow, and I'm being chased by Guido the killer pimp."

Tom Cruise's first major role. Ah, Tom Cruise. What an idiot. Sorry, where were we? Yes, Risky Business. It's listed as a comedy but it didn't make me laugh, and it's not dramatic enough to be a drama... it just kinda sits there as a fantastical teenage boy wet dream. Which is no bad thing, if that's your bag.

Anyhow. Bed-time, since I've got a new job in the morning...

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

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"If you want a vision of the future, Winston, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever."

This film would always have a tough job living up to my imagination (as the screen version of your favourite book would do).

But it succeeded.

The Omega Man (1971)

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"Sorry the world didn't make it."

Blasphemy, blas for you, blas for everybody in the world.
Apparently utterly unlike the book, which is useful to know because Craig said Matheson's I Am Legend (not Will Smith's) is pretty good. Which I'll have to now go and read: nice premise, but what I'm sure are religious undertones in the book are brought forward and overplayed, somewhat. No surprise in a Chuck Heston film, perhaps...
And it's aged pretty badly, yo.

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (2001)

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"We're running short on skin. We'll need to harvest more lesbians."

No, really.

If you're mildly interested/aroused by such a brilliant title (I'd say one of the greatest ever), you're my kind of person.

That is all.

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

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"You may know kung fu... but you're still a fairy."

And if by magic, a near-perfect combination of the previous two films. I likes accidental-on-purpose patterns!

And I like silly films like this one.

And a sequel's been announced... :)

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

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"Take that barnacle off his lip."

And so, to a cinematic classic, and I'm sure everyone has seen more than a few scenes in their time, yet in their proper context are even more fantastical. For though Casshern is a futuristic, shot-in-a-Sin-City-style adrenaline rush, you'd be surprised how much fun Steamboat Bill, Jr. is. Seriously. The stunts are brilliantly conceived and performed, the effects well designed, and the soundtrack perfectly paced.
Just like Casshern, you say? Well, where the Japanese makes attempts at philosophical depth, the Hollywood succeeds at genuine laugh-out-loud comedy. Bill makes you think, but only in wonderment at how Buster Keaton defied death for 70 minutes. You wouldn't see it today, even from Jackie Chan.

Casshern (2004)

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"I guess Casshern gave up on us."

Quite thankful that I didn't blog this until now since it gives me the chance to compare it with yesterday's film. And what a comparison it is! Cinema certainly offers a range of experience, and I maintain (against Myron's better judgment) that it's nigh-on impossible to compare, and thus choose favourites, from such vastly different genres.
So Casshern is incomprehensible, shiny, shot at unblinkingly high-tempo - so, everything you'd come to expect from a Japanese film, perhaps. But, of course, unknowing to those with such superficial information on the culture, the film hides a certain depth. Not philosophically advanced, but seeing certain issues tackled in what is a sci-fi/adventure/potentially braindead feature is nice. Helps fill that void inside, y'know.

The Wicker Man (1971)

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"Can I do anything for you, Sergeant?"
"No, I doubt it, seeing you're all raving mad!"

The first film interrupted by adverts, and the first film started after midnight. Have I failed? Have I fuck.

Waited for this on a late-night commercial TV slot because I've wanted to see it for ages. You see, some films are stand-alone works of art, of course products of their culture, but some help define it by simple matter of dissemination and repetition, becoming symbols representing more than other films do. Wow long sentence. You can tell I'm not in uni any longer since that failed a coherence test and had no references.

But yeah, everyone's seen The Wicker Man, right? At the very least everyone knows what it's about. Which makes watching it for the first time a little strange, like seeing the football highlights. Yet it is testament to the work that it didn't fail to shock, to inspire revulsion at all characters, and to see that the performances don't appear dated.

What, you say?! Well, I think the beauty of the film is that it's really difficult to age badly - yes, it's so obviously a product of the early seventies that you almost expect a newly-elected lead actor at any moment - but the filmakers must have known that stark-raving-madness translates to any society at any time in history.

Though, again, watching it at 01:15 may have helped.

The Devil's Backbone (2001)

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“Europe is sick with fear, and fear sickens the soul.”

This entry is rather late, but then I was late getting home on Saturday night and haven't caught up yet. Went into town (Sheffield, y'know) to sell my PS2 - the fourth one I've sold in my life - to raise some cash for the imminent move out into the sticks of East Yorkshire (that cash has now gone, thanks to an expensive grocery trip with my dad). Then went to see Matt and Saf in Walkley, who talked me out of buying a Slovenian scooter whilst making tasty stir-fry. A good day!

Anyway, the point. Got home at barely ten minutes to midnight, after an entertaining bus journey home with some drunkards and a French girl who tried to teach me some of her language (not successful). So got upstairs as flash as possible and watched a minute of Backbone before pausing to brush teeth, get changed, eat and all that jazz. Yeah, it's bending the rules a little but whatever (nothing compared to tomorrow, or rather, yesterday).

Still, the film was still there half an hour later and rewarded me, against expectations! Not that I doubt Alex's taste in films (this being the second loan of his, after Bob Roberts) but I was expecting a modern horror flick, which anyone with sense would despise. Can't abide cheap shocks and unrepentant, unnecessary gore (Hammer Horror, on the other hand...)

Instead this was intelligent, in that 'well-placed metaphors and nicely-lit' way, and though entirely predictable had a few nice plot devices. That said, context plays almost everything in the enjoyment of media, and a Saturday midnight showing is sure to bring out the best of the mood rather than, say, 9am on a Monday morning. So, see the film, but not when you're skiving off work. Yeah.

Oh, and parentheses are awesome, don't let anyone tell you otherwise (never).

Bob Roberts (1992)

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"Grandma felt guilty 'bout being so rich and it bothered her until the day she died. But I will take my inheritance and invest it with pride, yes invest it with pride."

If you'd asked me ten years ago what my favourite politically-themed film was, it'd probably have been Bulworth. Pretty ridiculous, fantastical, comic nonsense. But great fun and a fine distraction from real life.

Though Bob Roberts is Jack Black's first feature film (no, really) it fulfills none of the same criteria. Instead, and if you were to look at the cast list you'd immediately guess this, it's your typical gritty film of the left; the political machine is overbearingly and almost overwhelmingly powerful. Almost? You'll have to wait to the last five minutes to see.

It begs the questions a good academic essay would pose: what gives us pride? Who holds power and what difference does it make? Who is invisible and why aren't they seen? Like a machiavellian Stephen Colbert, Tim Robbins plays Devil's Advocate for not the first nor the last time in his career. And though it's easy to see through the act - the film answers its' own questions with conviction, though sometimes weakly - one worries whether people can see through actual politics, politics that dares not go as far as Roberts yet delivers the same message.

Yes, it's preaching to the converted, but I wish too that everyone engage their opponent.

(And listed on IMDB as a Comedy? Sorry, but I aint putting that as my label. Even though Sideshow Bob Roberts paid homage in Season 6 of The Simpsons. Yeah. And that my university dissertation was obviously stolen, taken back in time and used as influence for this film. And that was a barrel of 10,000 laughs, I'll tell you.)

La Vie en Rose (2007)

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"Non, je ne regrette rien."

I've the greatest respect for Mark Kermode and I tend to be trusting of his reviews (though I still don't get his horror fascination). And recalling his review of La Vie en Rose I've gotta agree - how can the filmmakers skip World War Two? And why use Piaf's voice and not Cotillard's? Strange. But otherwise few bad decisions, as evidenced by the fact I enjoyed it :)

It's certainly a film of two halves, though there's no mention of football. Stick with it after the first 70 minutes (it feels like it could end and be a passable TV documentary). The mood grows rather more dark, which is always a good thing, and is making me think this daily two-hour sacrifice may darken my soul in ever-innovative ways.

By the way, the first film I've seen outside my room. I'm socialising! Though only with my mum and the cats, don't get too excited for me.

The Last King of Scotland (2006)

IMDB

"I know who you are and what you are. I am you!"

The first of a double-bill of films I can thank my mother's subscription to Lovefilm for (tomorrow: La Vie en Rose). And the second film in succession where Simon McBurney plays a slightly creepy guy! Yay for the small things!

And this, like Candidate, is not for the faint of heart. 'Historical fiction' it may be, and it certainly overplays the fiction. Yet it does a pretty good job at dramatising Amin's regime too. Though I'm not sure on some of the detail (I don't want to spoil it for anyone by mentioning what I mean), so I'm gonna do some Wiki-ing (it's a verb, trust me). Let's just say there's a chance that more than a fair share of this film is 2006 than 1970s.

Watched this film quite co-incidentally after reading this blog earlier today, entitled "Hollywood Can't Get Africa Right." I'd urge anyone to do the same.

Oh yeah, it's half past midnight - this film still counts even though it finished at quarter past, BECAUSE the disc was scratchy and stopped working after half an hour and wanted to be cleaned. AND I started the film before 11:59. So yeah. New rules, or rather, clarifications :)

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

IMDB

"This isn't an election, this is a coup."

Considering how much I like Denzel Washington, I surprise myself with how few of his films I've seen. I guess I always faced the same problem which wasn't resolved by this release; he likes thrillers, me - not so much. Perhaps the problem is seeing too many TV thrillers. A good one has to build realistic suspense and demands faultless performances, much like a magic trick, otherwise the illusion falls apart.

This was certainly wasn't faultless, but did keep me enjoyably gripped. Having not seen the original (Angela Lansbury!) I can't judge whether some characters in 2004 were derivations, which may explain their tendencies to one-dimensionality. Maybe some of the direction or narrative arc wasn't up to scratch, I dunno. But the first hour suffers as a result. The introduction of Bruno Ganz brightened things up, for me, and - perhaps not co-incidentally - upped the tempo and really injected some life.

Blah blah blah I'm pretending to talk about films like I know something, which is terribly boring. All I know is eight days in and no terrible films yet, none that I regret seeing anyway (hmm, I'm looking at you, Bruce Almighty). But maybe watching this film now is good justification for not seeing it at the cinema; if I'd done that for all the films I wanted to watch on the big screen, who knows what kind of financial ruin I'd currently be in (current status: £126 until bankruptcy becomes an option).

The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

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"You gotta fight for every breath and tell death to go to hell."

I was in Chicago recently, investing in an afternoon whilst awaiting a connecting flight back to Europe. I wandered the aspirational streets as I like to do in a new city, taking the metro to a random city-centre stop and getting lost on foot. Tourist attractions are there to be seen, certainly, and they can tell you plenty about the place, it's history, and how it wants to advertise itself. It's just that sometimes, when you do it my way, you meet chance and rediscover that life is a complex adventure.

No, not the shoe-shiner who said I had a nice sense of style (ha!), nor the couple ambling along the pier oblivious to their sole spectator. I mean the bookstore I found, the hour spent inside and the product of my endeavour.

Now, I had plenty of reading material for the journey home but this book monopolised my life, for a time. You see, this man's quest - to read the Encyclopaedia Brittanica from A-Z - may have been begun with selfish motives, but upon completion the lesson shared helped me write the first paragraph of this post, and begin this ultimately pointless 'quest.'

But life needs it's adventures in order to be one. A person cannot live behind the veneer of vicariousness (thanks Tool) and live the adventures of others; one cannot rely on conclusions and moral lessons to simply be taught, for they must be lived to be understood.

That is not to say I should pack this in and spent two hours a day in town, meeting strangers or 'reconnecting' with nature. No, for though today's film was in essence a biopic, stories need to be told. They have the ability to tell us what we need to know about ourselves as a race, as connected human beings. To tell the story of people's aspirations and failures so that I may live as one of them and not a spectator to life's transience. That the world of yesterday no longer exists but that the world of tomorrow only exists as I do, as we do.

(Oh, the film? Of course. Beautiful location shooting, great character acting, not overlong at only two hours and full of evocative metaphorical imagery - maybe embellished but this adds, not detracts. Quite possibly as perfect as it could be.)

An Affair to Remember (1957)

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"There must be something between us, even if it's only an ocean."

Is there a 54-year-old who today could be cast as Cary Grant was here? I doubt it, which is testament as much to Grant's looks and charm as it perhaps is to the relative dearth of alternatives at the time :)

Taking nothing away from Grant and Kerr but their directions haven't aged too well, and the film is far too overtly Catholic. Still, meaning is in the mind of the receiver and as a simple morality tale it plays to its' strengths - it's never too late, and you're never too old (even at 54) to find what you never knew you wanted, nor to forgive others - and yourself.

Zoolander (2001)

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"Don't ask questions, just give into the power of the tea..."

To schedule went walking in Castleton with my good friend Myron today, though I didn't quite convince him why Pirates 2 and 3 suck. The short answer - because they, like the threequels of 2007, overblow what was good from the originals to such an extent they distort anything else. Plot, cohesion. Narrative cinema. I mean, ten Johnny Depps? Actually getting Keith Richards to play his dad? Don't patronise me!

And where does this leave Zoolander, a film I got in part to amuse Myron and partly because he continually namechecks it? Well, to my surprise, Stiller didn't overdo it. Sure, it's another 90 minutes music video that coulda worked as a half-hour TV comedy. But it's dumb without bring annoying, predictable but not sterile. Not cinema genius but it has no pretensions at box office glory nor, it seems to me anyway, artistic merit. A few guys having some dorky fun.

I may be utterly wrong, of course, in which case I've like totally offended Ben Stiller yeah?

Batman Begins (2005)

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"It's not who I am underneath, but what I *do* that defines me. "

Another of the films (8 Mile was the first) that I bought in exchange for a few acorns and dusty moths. And well worth such a sacrifice it was too! Thoroughly enjoyable 21st Century take on the saga, though in places near the end it too obviously lightens up in order to ease the transition to the 1989 film, which as we all now has a lightness of touch, a comic edge and a stylised finish, and is bloody marvellous as a result.

Understandable now why The Ladies (TM) fawn over Christian Bale, couldn't quite see it from American Psycho myself. And great to have The Dark Knight to look forward to, though Heath Ledger as The Joker? You've a lot to live up to, my floppy-haired-but-strangely-compelling actor friend.

But, I guess we'll get to hear Bale's Michael Keaton impression all over again :)

8 Mile (2002)

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"What are you doing with your life, THAT'S SO GREAT?"

Opportunity, a strange phenomenon.

And so it is that less than 24 hours after posting a speculative application I find myself with a job offer as trainee sports reporter. Not saving the world, but perhaps saving me from eternal boredom.

This is why the film, a flawed if good-natured morality tale, finished barely three minutes before midnight. And yeah, I like eminem, so shoot me (actually don't, I like this shirt).

Bruce Almighty (2003)

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"Is your child in dire jeopardy? Find out tonight, after the game."

I've realised something already, only two days in - that this is made much more difficult by waking up after lunchtime. Just offering advice for life.

In the time I did have today I sent off some job applications and tried to pacify some drama at home, before getting round to this TV movie at 8.30. Maybe I could use some help from Morgan Freeman to get through the tough days. Did He create Himself to fill this role? Perhaps. Or maybe the fuss over Freeman's 'destiny' for this role is just the design of a Chuck Norris-esque enigma in order to raise publicity for a pretty mediocre film.

That's right kids, mediocre! Admittedly there's about 30 minutes of good material here, and some fun visual gags. Carrey is his usual versatile self, though a little less cloying than usual. But even in 90 minutes this felt fleshed out beyond what's bearable. Maybe a new studio should edit recent box office (s)hits to their correct length and release them as compilation DVDs. So, for example, we could also have half an hour each of Night at the Museum, The Illusionist, Spider-Man 3 and the Pirates trilogy (10 minutes each). That way we'd use less natural resources AND patience!

By the way, Mike Huckabee is using Chuck Norris in his campaign for Republican presidential candidate:



I find this rather odd, as should you.

Richard III (1955)

IMDB

"Conscience is a word that cowards use."

And so begins 2008. A terribly uninteresting opening last night (no parties for me, oh no) but enlivened by the first of - at least - 366 films this year. The plan, as I'm sure you're aware, is to watch a new film everyday, either on DVD, TV or at the cinema. The reason? Well, who needs reasons. But I'm sure it'll tell me something about myself if I can do it when the going gets a lot harder... meaning when I actually have stuff to fill up my day.

As it is, we begin with the easiest of tasks. Sift through the already purchased-though-as-yet-unwatched DVDs I own, of which there are... four. Not a great back catalogue but one that can help ease in the new year and fill me with misplaced confidence. I also need to find time in my day around the essentials of sleeping and eating. For yes, I am presently unemployed. This isn't a challenge, it's a saving grace.

Now, how will I fill the other 362 days, you ask? Or, put more pertinently, how will I continue past Saturday (especially as I'm planning to go for a Peak District walk with Myron that day)? Well, you see, that's partly where you come in too. For not only can you contact me (see right) but feel free to loan me DVDs too. No, seriously. Please :)

As for today's film? Longer than I thought. I'll have to keep tabs on running lengths, especially if I'm expecting to keep (rather, re-ignite) friendships this year. Yet even over two-and-a-half hours of Olivier in this role seems insufficient, for he is monumental. One of the best acting performances I've ever seen in a film. Yes, even better than Keanu Reeves as Ted Logan.

That reminds me, more on comparing films later.