Apparently, this is supposed to be a really good film... I just don't get it. I spent an hour and 45 minutes watching it and I saw no complexity to the storylines, no reason to really like any of the characters, and despite purporting to be a comedy, none of it was funny.
If Dead Poets Society was a huge hit, this was most definitely a miss with me.
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Film 13 - Dead Poets Society
Occasionally I get the inspiration to watch a certain film from a strange place. A couple of weeks ago, when watching How I Met Your Mother, Barney and Ted parodied Dead Poets Society and then professed their love for the film.
So a couple of weeks later, I finally sat down and watched it, and I loved it. Chock full of memorable lines "O captain, My captain", "Carpe diem. Seize the day boys. Make your lives extraordinary." Stuffed to burst with brilliantly written characters, from Prof. Keating, to Neil Perry and Todd Hamilton. Exquisitely sad, as Neil finds he can't take life any more.
Just truly breathtaking, I know I keep saying this about ever film I see... but this may be the best yet.
Carpe diem.
Friday, 21 May 2010
Film 12 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down A Dream
Some films you watch purely by accident, sometimes just because you watch five minutes of a four hour film and are determined to see it through to the end. That was what I did with this documentary about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
I was no huge fan of them before hand, not having listened to them much if at all, but the documentary was excellent and really turned me on to their music. It had the right kind of mix of new interviews, archive interviews and live footage.
Four hours was a bit long though, despite the fact that it remained interesting throughout, I struggle to maintain my attention span that long.
I was no huge fan of them before hand, not having listened to them much if at all, but the documentary was excellent and really turned me on to their music. It had the right kind of mix of new interviews, archive interviews and live footage.
Four hours was a bit long though, despite the fact that it remained interesting throughout, I struggle to maintain my attention span that long.
Saturday, 15 May 2010
Film 11 - Brokeback Mountain
Needless to say... I cried. An increadibly emotional film, about two guys who just fell in love. This blogpost is about a month late, and I only got around to writing it because I watched Film 12, so the details are a bit hazy in my mind.
But I can remember the best bits, that first night of passion, the denial, the acceptance, and then finally the love. Sometimes you forget that not everywhere is a secular and liberal as London in 2010, and this film reminds you of the harsh realities of life for gay people in the south of America, then and now. You see them lose work because of it, have to hide this love story from everyone they know, and the flashback into the brutal homophobic killing which reminded them why they had to keep this a secret.
Then, near the end Jack Twist dies, and for the last fifteen minutes of the film, Ennis wanders alone, picking up fragments of Jack's life, the two shirts they wore on Brokeback, and just as Jack kept them to remember him by, Ennis does for Jack.
But I can remember the best bits, that first night of passion, the denial, the acceptance, and then finally the love. Sometimes you forget that not everywhere is a secular and liberal as London in 2010, and this film reminds you of the harsh realities of life for gay people in the south of America, then and now. You see them lose work because of it, have to hide this love story from everyone they know, and the flashback into the brutal homophobic killing which reminded them why they had to keep this a secret.
Then, near the end Jack Twist dies, and for the last fifteen minutes of the film, Ennis wanders alone, picking up fragments of Jack's life, the two shirts they wore on Brokeback, and just as Jack kept them to remember him by, Ennis does for Jack.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Film 10 - Casablanca
Here's looking at you kid...
What a film that was, I watched it a couple of days ago and I now know why it so often gets in lists of the best film ever. No film I've ever watched ever had more quotable lines than this one - and even ones attributed "play it again Sam" which were never actually said.
I don't often watch black and white films, and for the first few minutes it was a culture shock, but after a while I grew to see how it worked exactly with the old-fashioned charm of the characters. Characters like Rick were just the right mix of devilishly charming and with just enough virtue so you think he'd do the right thing in the end, and it was obvious why Ilsa was wanted by two men.
The ending, although predictable from my cultural point of view, was perfectly done and the final line remains the best end to a film I've ever seen.
"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship"
What a film that was, I watched it a couple of days ago and I now know why it so often gets in lists of the best film ever. No film I've ever watched ever had more quotable lines than this one - and even ones attributed "play it again Sam" which were never actually said.
I don't often watch black and white films, and for the first few minutes it was a culture shock, but after a while I grew to see how it worked exactly with the old-fashioned charm of the characters. Characters like Rick were just the right mix of devilishly charming and with just enough virtue so you think he'd do the right thing in the end, and it was obvious why Ilsa was wanted by two men.
The ending, although predictable from my cultural point of view, was perfectly done and the final line remains the best end to a film I've ever seen.
"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship"
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Film 9 - Bowling For Columbine
Michael Moore is my sort of guy, a liberal in a land where the term liberal is mostly used as an insult, and according to one Morning Star article - a closet Marxist. The latter seems less plausible, but what is true is that he is one of the world's most famous documentary film-makers and very possibly one of the best.
I had seen part of Bowling for Columbine before, but never all the way to the end - thus it is eligible for this blog. We watched the whole film over a couple of lessons in Media Studies (blah, blah, blah easy subject etc - yep I've heard it all before).
America is infamous for having one of the highest gun crime and gun murder rates in the world and the high rate of gun ownership has been blamed for this, but by the end of the film Moore comes up with a new, more thought-provoking idea: The Media.
Looking at some of the examples of TV news from the US he showed, gives some idea of the climate of fear created that separates the US from equally gun loving Canada. Put simply, fear drives violence and the violence drives more fear and continues in a vicious cycle fuelled by the news media, looking for their ratings.
I had seen part of Bowling for Columbine before, but never all the way to the end - thus it is eligible for this blog. We watched the whole film over a couple of lessons in Media Studies (blah, blah, blah easy subject etc - yep I've heard it all before).
America is infamous for having one of the highest gun crime and gun murder rates in the world and the high rate of gun ownership has been blamed for this, but by the end of the film Moore comes up with a new, more thought-provoking idea: The Media.
Looking at some of the examples of TV news from the US he showed, gives some idea of the climate of fear created that separates the US from equally gun loving Canada. Put simply, fear drives violence and the violence drives more fear and continues in a vicious cycle fuelled by the news media, looking for their ratings.
Friday, 19 March 2010
Film 8 - Little Miss Sunshine
After watching one and a half films I seen before (Fight Club and half of 10 Things I Hate About You) we all dozed off before waking up in the morning to continue with this interesting indie comedy.
The acting and storyline were both good and the granddad character was one of the funniest old men I'd ever seen, but the main problem I had with the film was the concept, a beauty contest for seven year olds. It just seemed so wrong and that just stopped me enjoying the end of the film as my mind just kept going back to the immense wrongness of the idea.
Suffice to say - as it only gets three paragraphs - not one of my favourite films of all time.
The acting and storyline were both good and the granddad character was one of the funniest old men I'd ever seen, but the main problem I had with the film was the concept, a beauty contest for seven year olds. It just seemed so wrong and that just stopped me enjoying the end of the film as my mind just kept going back to the immense wrongness of the idea.
Suffice to say - as it only gets three paragraphs - not one of my favourite films of all time.
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