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Little Caesar (1931) - solid if unexceptional old gangster film with the only notable aspect being Edward G Robinson's central performance as a Scarface type criminal which obviously laid down the template for many to imitate over the years. The rest of it is fairly pedestrian but Robinson makes sure that every scene he is in is interesting.
6.5/10 Iron Man (2008) - fairly solid comic book movie that suffers a bit from dodgy pacing at the start where it�s a bit too frenetic to successfully establish character and from an end that�s too anticlimactic. The middle section of the film is the best, where it deftly combines humour and action (the extended action sequence in the middle of the film is excellently staged). The cast is fine, although despite Jeff Bridges' best efforts, his character is a pretty weak villain. 7/10 Il Bidone (1952) - Although I'm not a huge fan of his later, more self-conscious and self-indulgent films like La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2, I quite like Fellini's earlier more simpler films. This falls into the second category (despite an unnecessarily long and showy party scene in the middle which seems like a test run for the even longer one in La Dolce Vita), following a team of low level swindlers around the outskirts of Rome. It's not a con film, but rather about the people who have to resort to live this style of life. The acting varies from in quality but Fellini makes up for that by establishing and developing most of his characters through a combination of Nino Rota's excellent score and some very fluid camerawork. 7/10 The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) - equal parts corny and impressive science fiction film from the 50's when concept mattered more than special effects. It will be interesting to see how the new remake turns out but I think its very likely that ideology will be reversed. Although this version is considered a classic, I found it to have too many gaping plot holes and inconsistencies. But the central concept is interesting (spaceship lands on earth, everyone panics thinking its an attack and doesn�t realise the alien wants to communicate something, alien is attacked and assimilates into society, panic escalates etc), if awkwardly handled, and Robert Wise sets up his scenes very well and gets some pretty solid work from Patricia Neal (although hers is probably the only good performance). 6.5/10 The Ox Bow Incident (1943) - like a 'western' version of 12 Angry Men except that even though Henry Fonda again plays the moral centre of the movie, he does not take action as he did in Lumet's film. Which leaves William Wellman with a difficult task that despite his best attempts comes across as a bit too preachy in the final 5 min when the 'message' is literally read out to the audience. Till then, it�s a pretty fine film with tremendous atmosphere, a variety of interesting characters and great use of light and shadow. 6.5/10 Exiled (2006) - I've found his previous films to be lacking but Johhny To finally arrives with this one, a successful blend of the movies of Peckinpah, Leone and Melville. Eschewing the usual genre trappings of the asian crime genre, To manages to imbue his movie with a cinematic language that doesn�t require dialogue for communication, just mere gestures, glances and tics do the work. His characters say a lot without actually talking too much and To also uses this drawn out communication to ratchet up the suspense in particular scenes with minimal effort. As for the action scenes, they are some of the best in recent memory and also accompanied by a brilliant score. I'm now actually looking forward to his upcoming english remake of Melville's classic Le Cercle Rouge. 7.5/10 Crimson Rivers (2001) - french serial killer movie with a plot so ridiculous that Agatha Christie would be proud. Matthieu Kossowitz seems to realise that his plot is silly and decides to try and distract you from it with some stunning imagery and finely executed set pieces. This ploy works well enough, as do the leads in Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel, but when the it all comes together you still end up forgetting all the good stuff and only remember the implausibility of it all. 5.5/10 I read "Iron Man" and started thing about the Ted Hughes story.
Nitin's review then didn't make much sense :) I just finished the last episode of Cowboy Bebop. And once again a great thing was ruined by a super sad ending for me. AAAaahh!
Agreed, it is beautifully melancholic. I just prefer happily-ever-after. Well, gonna watch the movie soon.
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (2007) - Palme D'or winner of 2007 and its not hard to see why. The premise is something like this : 1987. Romania is still under communist rule. Amongst other things, abortion is illegal. Otilia agrees to help her college roomate Gabita get one from a Mr Bebe.
That description might put a lot of people off straightaway but they would miss out on a stunner of a film. It doesnt touch on anything concerning the pros and cons of abortion, it doesnt directly touch on anything about the communist regime (although there is a fascinating amount of indirect detail), it focuses simply on a friendship and the strain its put through as events conspire out of control. Its an undoubtedly brutal experience to sit through, simply because of Cristian Mungiu's ability to sucker punch his audience through confident storytelling that heads off into unexpected plot turns which just seem to appear out of nowhere. My only small complaint is that the film doesnt end as well as it should, although I'm hard pressed to think of a better ending personally. Maybe there was just nowhere left to go after what had come before. 8/10 The Petrified Forest (1936) - solid gangster film that is surprisingly filled with more ideas than is usual for the genre. But they're interesting and well articulated ideas, perhaps too well articulated as it descends into too much talk a bit too often but the characters are extremely well defined and the performances from Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart are suitably strong. 7/10 Tropic Thunder (2008)
Trash. I expected a nice popcorn hollywood comedy but it was much much worse (a kid leading the drug syndicate and stuff. And Jack Black of course.). Frankenstein (1931) - its a bit hokey thanks to some of the performances but there is unquestionable talent behind the camera with James Whale creating a very distinct atmosphere that suits the material quite well. Its also fairly short, which means that the hokiness only registers after you have finished watching it.
6.5/10 Bride of Frankenstein (1935) - the sequel seems to be as well regarded as the first film but I thought its tone was wildly uneven, switching abruptly back and forth between black comedy and 'serious' drama. Again, Jamesd Whale keeps it afloat really, with some nicely executed sequences that show good innovation. 5.5/10 Classe Tous Risques (1960) - seems to have been made simply to demonstrate that Jean Pierre Melville wasnt singlehandedly responsible for the french neo noir genre. But it's no mere Melville imitation, Claude Sautet's film being every bit as good as anything that Melville made in the genre, particularly in its dynamic and thrilling first half. The character work is brilliant, and while the plot peters out a bit in the second half, by then you have experienced a little gem of a crime film. 7.5/10 Destry Rides Again (1930) - tongue in cheek western/comedy with James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich that is harmless fun without ever really being great in either genre. 6.5/10 Dragonwyck (1946) - gothic thriller from Joseph Mankiewicz in the mould of Hitchcock's Rebecca that is a bit of a misfire despite some stunning cinematography and an impressive performance from Vincent Price. Some of the plotting is extremely awkwardly handled and the movie's focus seems to be all wrong as well. 4.5/10 Grand Illusion (1937) - bit of a dated look at WW1, which according to the movie was the 'gentleman's' war. But Jean Renoir's misguided approach to the material results in a decidedly humanistic touch being lent to the proceedings, something that is sorely lacking from quite a lot of war films. That combined with his technical mastery (some of the tracking shots are unbelievable) make this quite a formidable film. 7-7.5/10 Leatherheads (2008) - the first misfire from George Clooney as director but the intent, to recreate the old Hollywood screwball comedy, was admirable. Unfortunately the script lacked zing and Renee Zellewegger was cast opposite Clooney. I find her to be a terrible actress and she was completely miscast here resulting in not only a limp performance form her but also a complete lack of chemistry between her and Clooney. 4.5/10 A lot of those horror movies from the 30's played late at night on the local television affiliates when I was a kid. Amazing how many of them are still watchable today.
was discovered by Hollywood while he was still writing? One thing for certain, if they were made in the 30's the quality would have been higher than the few movies made of his work in the past few decades.
nah, just happened to be on top of the unwatched movie pile :)
I went through about 15 movies in the last week or so, those were just the first half. anyone seen that new danish film Let the Right One In ? That's meant to be a cracker.
it'd be too long :)
But if you have time to waste, you can sift through here for the 4.5-5 starrers IMHO. http://nitin.dvdaf.com ok i've gone through it all and got a few dozen to get. you certainly like your film noir, don't you nitin?
I work in cd/dvd retail shop atm, but i almost don't know films. Can you point me at any good films i should watch? Both old and new ones
that's a pretty broad range but try these if you havent already seen them :
12 Monkeys 28 Weeks Later Apocalypse Now Apocalypto Being John Malkovich Blue Velvet Brazil Children of Men Dark City The Descent Donnie Darko Downfall The Fly From Hell High Tension Lost Highway Memento Oldboy Pan's Labyrinth The Prestige The Thing Wolf Creek Most of those are fairly recentish (ie last 10 years or so) and I'm assuming you've already seen Alien, Aliens and Blade Runner :) How To Lose Friends And Alienate People (2008)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455538/ Pretty bland. Stupid american humor. Simon Pegg suits intelligent nerdy humor much better. Bad character building, very bad. Kirsten Dunst is hot. Thumbs down.
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