My London trip last Friday went well. It was nice to have a break from all this house move stuff. The new place is still a mess and I’m starting to find it rather depressing. I know it’ll be sorted out eventually, but meanwhile, life is damned uncomfortable.
Anyway, London: I only got one half-decent snap. This is the Golden Jubilee Bridge, which Paul and I crossed to reach the South Bank and the National Film Theatre.
Update from previous entry: I decided I could do the trip down to London to see Touch of Evil at the NFT after all! Should… Read More »London Cinema Trip
The National Film Theatre is holding an Orson Welles retrospective this month and October. I’m very tempted to go to one of their showings of the 1998 restored version of Touch of Evil. (I still need to figure out how to order the DVD from America, as we should be getting a player finally, after the move.) Probably can’t afford it, tho’.
Read More »Orson at the NFT
Just had to say that Phone Booth is a fabulous film (we saw it Thursday night). Not holding a grudge against Joel Schumacher for the abomination of the last two Batman films, I was really impressed.
Read More »You Never Call Anymore
I just got a lot of packing done. I’d be in fairly good shape to move tomorrow, at a push, so I feel I’ve done something useful! I haven’t felt like writing much, tho’.
Brief comments on some recent films we’ve seen:
Panic Room… excellent stuff! Original story idea, stylish direction and Jodie Foster. Need I mention that Jodie is supremely cool? If I have little to say about this one, I guess it’s because it all works so well and beggars only mindless praise. See it if you haven’t already done so.
It’s been out a while, but we finally saw Road to Perdition the other night. In spite of my almost irrational loathing of Tom Hanks, I really wanted to see this one.
So, is it ‘The greatest gangster film since The Godfather‘? Nah. Not even close. It is very good, though. The direction, courtesy of Mr. Kate Winslett, is constantly aspiring to interesting things, and sometimes even succeeds. The style outweighs the content on a few occasions (a sure sign that nothing very interesting is happening), but thankfully, the effect is not overwhelming.
Read More »Road to Perdition (2002)
Recent viewing: Sunday night we watched Dog Soldiers, a British horror film from last year.
A band of soldiers doing manoeuvres up in Scotland get besieged by a pack of werewolves. How’s that for a simple idea? I expected it to suck, to be honest, but it was okay. What, a decent British fright flick? Yep. There have been several recently, so I hear.
Some of the direction/action is a little confusing, but the acting is solid and the creatures are entirely convincing. Actually, they’re amongst the creepiest werewolves I’ve ever seen—huge, lithe monstrosities, rather similar to Bernie Wrightson’s rendition from Cycle of the Werewolf, only without the muscles. Good use of a small budget, FX-wise.
Read More »Cycle of the Limeys
Shopping Day today. Choice of venue: Birmingham. I rather like doing this on a Thursday, and thankfully, my sexy government fandango being on temporary hiatus meant nothing cramped my style. 😉
In Waterstone’s, I spotted This is Orson Welles. This is a collection of interviews Peter Bogdanovich conducted with the great man, plus extracts from the Touch of Evil memo, etc. I almost bought it. I mean, it’s just too good! But the price tag prevented me (£16.50). Anyone feeling generous? 🙂 I should compile an Amazon Wish List.
Well, I’m tempted to go and see it. We just watched a documentary about it on Five, which was fairly interesting. Oh, that green guy above? It’s Hulk. I bet you didn’t know that.
I have mixed feelings about the CGI. In order to make a creature that even vaguely resembles the comic book version, special effects are obviously necessary. From the scenes I’ve seen, it looks incredibly good in parts—but not so good in others. You know, I think the colour is partly the problem. The CGI Hulk looks best in scenes where there’s a lot of shadowing and the colour is subdued… but where the lighting is strong, it’s just too vivid. That shade can work in the comics, but it adds to the unreality of things on film. I think I might have gone for a more olive shade of green.
Read More »Don’t Make Me Angry, Etc.
Last night’s viewing: a rather strange film from 2000 titled Memento, starring Guy Pearce. I won’t give any spoilers if you’ve not seen it: read on without fear.
Pearce plays a guy who has lost his short-term memory and is looking for the person who raped and killed his wife. Simple premise, but… the film has a totally non-linear narrative. Initially, I felt it was going to be an irredeemable pain in the backside. By the halfway stage, the reasons for this technique start to become much clearer. The ending is terrifically well done. No, really, this one genuinely surprises.
Read More »If Memory Serves
