you're probably right there, and the artistic/cinematic choices often seemed inconsistent or weird to me. This includes some editing, music, some of the weird effects, etc. And you're right, it does seem like sometimes the film is casting him as a hero, and maybe it's due to those inconsistent choices. 

I Stand Alone
Interesting one, very bleak and desolate in both imagery and atmosphere. The character's inner monologue establishes the tone appropriately. Damn those 'shot cuts' and lol at the "You have 30 seconds to stop this film" warning. Why the double ending?

Irreversible
I expected it to be a lot more fucked up ("The movie that made nitin sick!"). The revenge and the rape scenes are tough, but bearable, and the reverse-progression makes it feel kind of strange, especially after 'cause and effect' are finally exposed. Visually nice, I didn't mind the 'vertigo' style in some scenes. 

with imdb links for nonentity.

The Hurt Locker (2008) - the best war themed film in years and also the best action film of this year. Kathryn Bigelow outdoes herself with this vicious, highly suspenseful and unconventional iraq set film focusing on an elite bomb squad unit.

The narrative is unconventional with no clearly defined antagonists, no real arc and no climax, and yet it is an entriely character driven piece that is never less than interesting. The largely unknown cast is great and the action scenes are far more exciting and memorable than your usual point, shoot and rapidly cut variety that dominate recent films.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887912/

7.5/10

<b?Thirst (2009) - The new film from Chan Wook Park is an original if very messy take on the vampire film. The basic plot setup involves a priest participating in a medical experiment that goes wrong and turns him into a vampiric creature. But thats just a base for Park to launch a bizarre film version of Zola's Therese Raquin, filled to the brim with hilarious black humour and schizophrenic tone changes.

It cuts through swathes of interesting ideas during its (too long) 133 min runtime, but the most interesting ones are relegated to the sidelines and the misguided adaptation of Therese Raquin taking up most the screentime. Add to that the almost scene for scene change in tone and you have an unfocused, wasted film but one that is always entertaining to a degree.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762073/

5.5-6/10 

agreed. Been some time since i saw an action movie so intense. If you're looking for story, character background development, etc. look somewhere else, though. 

but yeah you wouldnt call it a development and/or arc, more of a slow reveal in an unconventional fashion. 

You might like this short children's educational animation, although the makers probably didn't intend it to be so ominous...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpjR5a7IXUU 

No wonder there are so many dark and twisted death metal dudes in Finland. 

Interesting short film by the director of District 9 (basically its origin).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XPOuEWSnj4 

in the meantime :

Night of the Hunter (1955) - rewatch, didn�t quite like it the first time around as I felt it was kind of hokey. This time around, I got quite into it, probably because I'm now interested in other aspects apart from just story and acting. The last 1/3 still doesn�t work for me but the dreamlike visuals are spectacular and Robert Mitchum's laconic psychopath is quite entertaining.

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0048424/

7-7.5/10


Claire's Knee (1970) - another overly intellectual talkfest about relationships by Eric Rohmer but, like My Night at Maud's, its quite entertaining and beautifully shot. Its also better than Mauds because the characters are a little less analytical and a little more impulsive.

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0065772/

7-7.5/10


Milk (2008) - suffers from the same flaws as most biographical films, namely the tendency to just reproduce the main events the character took part in without really bothering to explore the character himself. In this particular case, the problem is amplified because the supporting characters are barely even that, popping in and out of the movie just to serve the plot. Its definitely well made and Sean Penn puts in a good impersonation without ever really going beyond that, but in the end it�s a fairly one dimensional film that treats its subject matter fairly simplistically.

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1013753/

6-6.5/10


Body and Soul (1947) - Robert Rossen laid down the template for a lot of flawed sporting genius films with The Hustler but before that he laid down the template for the boxing film with this excellent film with film noir overtones. In fact, its surprising to see how much this has in common with Rocky. Abraham Polonsky's screenplay is tight, with some very memorable dialogue, and although its all fairly predictable, its very well made and has a number of interesting subplots and characters.

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0039204/

7.5/10


Manhunt (1941) - ultimately disappointing WWII thriller from Fritz Lang, but one that starts off very promisingly. After a failed assassination on Hitler, british hunter Thorndike is hunted over Germany and england by the nazis. Up until the middle section of the film when Thorndike reaches England, it�s a cracking film, albeit a silly one, but once that happens it veers off into a dodgily handled romantic subplot that is never quite shaken off despite a good ending. Shame, because this is one of Lang's strongest visual films.

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0033873/

6-6.5/10


Mr Skeffington (1944) - entertaining if uneven melodrama with Bette Davis and Claude Rains in top form. It takes on a number of issues, probably too many, and although the end product is not quite the sum of its parts, the acting by the two leads more than makes up for the meandering tone and pacing.

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0037094/

6.5-7/10


Magnificent Obsession (1954) - extremely over the top melodrama from Douglas Sirk that is quite entertaining for its first half before becoming ridiculous in its second half. Still works, but only just.

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0047203/

6.5/10


Valkyrie (2008) - big misfire from Bryan Singer and its really his fault. The performances are fine and the subject matter ripe for a good film, but, presumably because the audience knew how the story would end, Singer felt that he needed to up the ante throughout the rest of the film. Unfortunately, this approach results in an overcompensation in the suspense stakes in an extreme way generating scene after scene of false suspense till the whole thing really becomes a parody of the film its trying to be.

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0985699/

5/10 

Ponyo - latest Miyazake film, this stands up fairly well among his other work but isn't near the top. Excellent sense of wonder and magic, charming animation, good characterization for the main characters, Miyazake does a good job of adding tension and suspense to the film, for most of its length. I think it falters a bit near the end, and part of it is that, as in many of his other films, the villains all end up being friendly by the end of the movie, and in this case the result is that the tension sort of disintegrates. If you have some all-powerful character who is benevolent, and no remaining villains, it's hard to get too worried about how things will turn out. Perhaps he didn't know how to end the story.

Inglourious Basterds - latest Tarantino film, this was pretty damned good overall with some weak spots. My biggest criticism is that i don't think the climactic scene was handled well, there were a lot of threads to tie together and some of them were tied up well, but the level of tension dropped too soon before the actual climax, which made the rest of the scene play out somewhat awkwardly for me. However the prologue was stong and a good ending is probably the most important part of leaving a positive impression in the audience.

I'd be interested in hearing others' thoughts on the climax of this movie, but of course we can't really talk about it without spoilers. 

prologue

er, i mean epilogue. 

plan to see that next week after District 9 tomorrow. will chime in :) 

a Military Vueltypt on Wheels like the Krotone Droids in Chicago Ilinois 1998 and Corona CA 2007 which the Eksoiledred is the Appropriate in the World of EspioWB East 

a Military Vueltypt on Wheels like the Krotone Droids in Chicago Ilinois 1998 and Corona CA 2007 which the Eksoiledred is the Appropriate in the World of EspioWB East 

WTF 

Gone in 60 Seconds (the Nicolas Cage one)
Finally watched this yesterday. Could have been a AAA movie but some things are so crappy. The damn kids and their highschool teen movie "comedy". Fugly bug-infested Jolie. Too much luck events in the racing scenes (like that wrecking ball), come on, it's about the driving, don't let these things ultimately decide the actor's fate. The clichee plot twists.

But apart from that it is a very good movie with great acting and a decent (sometimes great) soundtrack.

Gotta get the old Gone in 60 Seconds (1974) now, I bet I'll like it even more. 

Nicolas Cage, great acting? This guy has only two movies with decent acting under his belt, and that's Lord of War and The Weather Man, and even in those he over- and underacts all the time. God damn.

And don't even mention Leaving Las Vegas. It's a good movie, yeah. And Elizabeth Shue delivers a great performance, which is then ruined by Nic Cage. Fucker. 

yo momma fat. 

because i know i thought denzel washington was almost as bad as keanu reeves until i heard his real voice and what he did with it. 

Adaptation surely? And to a lesser extent Bringing Out the Dead. But otherwise I'm with you.

And the old Gone in Sixty Seconds shits all over the new one (not that it's that great either but the car chases are better). 

Adaptation was not bad, too. But generally I think that Cages acting style is not very versatile and only works in very few roles. That's why most of his films are shit - he is miscast.

megaman, I don't watch dubbed movies. 

I tend to avoid most nic cage movies like the plague. 

I am even disappointed that he is voicing a character in the Astro Boy movie. O Tezuka! 

That was a good one for the 'Cage. 

didnt quite like that one but he was decent in it.