Alias Season 3 - contrary to popular belief, I thought the show had already started its decline in the much loved season 2. That decline continues further in this season, with the whole rambaldi thing going way out of control, and a major twist that doesnt seem to have been thought through. And they relegated the best asset they had, ron rifkin's Arvin Sloane to a lesser supporting role.


Scrubs Season 1 - Maybe it was a case of too much expectation, as this came highly recommended, but I thought this was trying way too hard (eg voiceovers outlining everything braff is thinking/feeling when sufficient acting and comic timing would have done the same) and is only psuedo-witty.

Some nice bits, but lacking overall.


A Very Long Engagment - I've always found Jean Pierre Jeunet to be an extremely self-indulgent director who is as shamelessly and forcefully manipulative in his sentimentality as the more heavily criticised Spielberg.

He is a fine visual artist but the rest of his director's canon has a rather scattershot approach.

Amelie was a good film, mainly because he had Audrey Tatou, but she is badly miscast in this movie. Not that her character is given much to do apart from appearing sad and smile very now and then.

The script is an absolute mess, there are plenty of subplots and chracters but it seems as if Jeunet decided that giving his characters unique idiosyncracies sufficed for character development.

On top of all that, the visual style of the film, although gorgeous in its own right, does not fit well with the content of the film.

The one aspect that works is a well realised ending, which although predictable, is pulled off well. 

Lost Season 1 - pretty good overall but the shot in the kneecap pacing is evident even on dvd.

I didnt mind the flashbacks but its *extensive* use as a storytelling device was lazy writing.

More interestingly, now that the characters are pretty well built, if season 2 continues with the same flashback orientated structure, that's a sign the show doesnt really know where it's going. If they have it laid out, then the pacing can afford to pickup as characters are well established. 

Some sick sunday morning i watched telly and it showed "country girl". Black & white, from 1956 or so, with grace kelly, william holden and bing crosby. Funny how those old movies are so much based on the strong characters and everything else is just a blurry background. Very much contrast to newer movies. And the old actors have strong peculiar character and charisma, I think it's mainly since they had live performance and theater backgrounds, but I might be wrong.

Maybe that kind of powerful acting wouldn't work in modern day movies. Every scene starts with someone lighting a cigarette. 

Serenity - entertaining sci-fi, definitely felt like part of a series, which is good as it feels like it has a strong background, but bad because it has a bit of that "soft" Star Trek feel to it, kinda weak technological spectacle too. Still, a good film overall, quite good characters in it, and a nice sense of mystery.



Night Watch - another entertaining film (Russian fantasy thriller thing), although this time because of the style and OTT effects and camera work (sometimes too OTT). Really a load of nonsense, but entertaining and stylish nonsense with a decent atmosphere. Again, had a "part of a series" feel, which added to the background. 

Broken Flowers by Jim Jarmusch feat. Bill Murray.

Well, being a fain of the JJ i liked thjis movie too. I liekd the main idea of it and the excellent play of the Murray. Being good Don Juan in the past and end up being lonely old fart sucks ;) 

I believe nightwatch is the first part of a three movie series.

And vondur, I've been hanging for that one to be released here in australia. 

I usually hate westerns but this couldn't be further from the good guys vs bad guys scenario that makes me hate 'em so much. It is much closer to a mafia show actually. I've seen all 24 episodes and it's brilliant stuff. Perhaps I like it so much because it's so extremely cynical. Violence, betrayal, illegality lurking behind the appearance of the law, corruption, prostitution, drugs - it's all there. For some reason the new season doesn't come out until next september, and I don't think season 2 is on DVD yet, but check out season one. Dark, adult, psychological drama. 

yep, it' a knockout.

On another note, finished season 2 of Arrested Development which is still pretty funny but nowhere near the almost perfect season 1. The writing is more scattershot and not as consistent resulting in a lot more cheap jokes.

But still one of the funniest shows created IMHO.

And complaining about season 2 of tv shows on dvd, where the hell is Carnivale ?? Easily the best tv show currently screening (although that's debatable since it's now cancelled) and it gets relegated to the backburner. 

This was not a great horror movie but definitely a good one. The first half buildup was excellent (although those used to the recent crop of american horrors will probably find this a bit slow) and the second half was nicely done but not as well executed as the buildup.

One annoyance was that ever-increasing trend to edit so quickly that you have no idea what the hell is going on. I know they're trying to make you feel like the character but Marshall goes overboard like most other dircetors that attempt this style.

The other annoyance was the false ending. It does leave it a bit 'open' for interpretation but I dont see why it was included.

But the claustrophobic atmosphere of the first half and the decently executed visceral second half make up for these shortcomings.

And for those wondering, yes, there is some nice gore. 

The Children of Paradise - I got this blind as it was a Criterion and went in knowing nothing except that it's a highly revered French classic. I was not disappointed.

The first half is flawlessly executed, one of the best 90 min of cinema ever. Although the second half loses its way a bit and is not quite as good, this is a definite recommendation to anyone interested in films.



Bad Education - now this one has me in two minds. On the one hand, it's a nice blend of Hitchcock (especially Vertigo), noir and Almodovar's garish colours. It also features another stellar performance from Gael Garcia Bernal.

On the other hand, the script is far more concerned in its machinations, that it leaves no room to get to know the characters. We are never let into their motivations throughout the labyrinthine plot. And unfortunately, that leads to none of the scenes having much impact. 

This was quite good. Loved the carnage and some of the set pieces were very well executed.

On the downside, the family dynamic didnt work and was weak, and there was next to no narrative really.

But it achieves what it sets out to do and is good fun. 

uhhh
I'm glad I saw that in the cheap theatres
First half was great, dramatic, good special effects, etc
The ending, although it apparently follows the book, consists of one giant plothole in my opinion.

PSEUDO SPOILER WARNING
















A species could not advance further than humans have without knowledge of disease! I mean christ, these aliens can do all of this, yet they can't think to wear BIOHAZARD SUITS, a technology that WE HAVE? I can forgive them not nuking earth as Wells was writing before that came along, but really... how could these aliens survive that long without knowing anything at all about disease. The ending was really, really weak.

Plus cruise is an insane moron. But that goes for hollywood in general - if you can think of a ridiculous, pseudo-scientific, retarded idea, then half of 'em believe it. 

that goes for hollywood in general - if you can think of a ridiculous, pseudo-scientific, retarded idea, then half of 'em believe it.

You forgot the important part: being able to keep a straight face while selling it to them. 

two things :

firstly, if they went without that ending, there would have been cries of outcry ala LOTR for not sticking with the book.

secondly, I dont think it's all that unbelievable. Why would they know about the disease, their planet could have been anything unlike ours. To know anything about the disease would have meant to pay attention to all other life on earth, bacteria especially, apart from humans.

For a really silly ending which has that plothole you're referring to: Signs. Again SPOILER.










The water which the aliens are susceptible to is viewable from outer space since it covers 70% of the planet. Surely something that common and visible would have got their attention. 

Dear Mr Lucas, you're a visual craftsman.

This is quite possibly the best realised world put on to film yet. I didnt ever feel that this was a movie in my world, I felt as if I was actually in another world.

But all I could keep wondering when I was in this world was how little grasp of the english language the people in this world had. They talked as if they were all 13 yrs old and acted like it too. I just wanted to strangle them all and take over this world myself.

yours sincerely



6/10

ps : I'd rate it higher than return of the jedi but well below the standard of eps 4 & 5. 

I thought despite the great visuals in Revenge of the Sith, the actual directing was piss poor.
And well, yeah, don't get me started on the dialogue and acting. =)

Best to just skip the movies and buy the artbooks. =D 

The Island - god this was awful.

Tries hard to feature a (boring and unoriginal) plot for an hour or so and then turns into a chase movie. Only one semi-decent action sequence where the action is well choregraphed but is edited into oblivion.

Stay well away. 

With Michael Bay directing (the word in this case applied very loosely), I think staying away should be clear to anyone. 

Probably the best part of the movie is that some of the actors in it have been in actually good movies. 

yeah, I know. But I thought with ewan and scarlett, it might have at least been passable. 

The good bit was when Michael Clarke Duncan got dragged away screaming. I swear, that actor could be in the best comedy of the year and I'd still be moved. Other than that, just another shite film.

Best film of the year - Crash. It's just one of those films that I think about for ages after having watched it, trying to decipher exactly how each character changed and why. 10/10

Second best film of the year - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. I wasn't expecting much when I went to see this, but it turned out to be a really amazing black comedy. Laugh-out-loud moments, with a bit of thinky murder mystery and some light action for good measure! 9/10. 

Went to the movies and saw this political conspiracy thriller starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz and directed by the guy who did City of God.

It showed lots of promise but unfortunately came out as above average. The overall story was pretty good but the script iself was a bit of a mess. The acting was strong, both leads were very good, but the direction was distracting and disjointed. 

Robots - blah. Some nice animation but this is far far off from Pixar quality animated films. Very weak script.


Ikiru - I found this to be just above average. Well made and reasonably acted but far too long and heavy handed to be great. But given the status of the film, I'm obviously in the minority. 

Ring Two - This has been panned heavily and not without reason, the script is awful (especially the anticlimax) and downright absurd.

But it's also difficult to not see director Hideo Nakata's skill. Considering the script, this is quite a well directed film. Nakata manages to weave some delightfully twisted stuff into an otherwise messy film. And despite all its faults, the script does have some interesting ideas. Having Naomi Watts, who always makes things watchable, also helps.

A definite failure, but an interesting one. 

By Shambler.

1. The Agreement:

I agree that Robots was shite. Whether other such cartoons had cuteness combined with depth of perception and adult wryness, this had some cuteness combined with pure cheese.

2. The Opinion:

March Of The Penguins - I saw this recently, it was great. Almost the entire film has anything from 1 to about 2000 penguins in shot at any time, and they are very cool and cute. They waddle, shuffle, flap, scoot on their bellies, honk, kiss, stand around pondering the antartic world, and huddle together against 100mph winds. Okay so it's a documentary but since penguins are inherently cool and a lot of the footage is excellent, this was very nice.

3. The questions:

Is King Kong any good?

Is Narnia any good?

...

The End.