Quite a mainstream selection this month, but well it’s July so where better to escape the few measly weeks of Scottish sunshine than hiding in a dark movie theatre pretending to be somewhere else.

Hancock
Embarrassingly I actually enjoyed this, I may as well admit that I have a tendency to see most of the big blockbusters although I don’t report them here and it’s basically a given that I’ll see the Superheroes ones.  Well apart from pretty rough effects I really enjoyed this.  If you’ve seen the trailer you can basically guess the entire film.  Hancock has basically all of the power of Superman but lives the life of a drunk.  His help is unwanted by the city as his temper and unpredictability make him a liability.  It gets a bit ropey towards the end, but you always knew in a film starring Will Smith he’d make good eventually.  The best bit though is when he’s bad he’s proper bad.  I found it funny anyway
6/10

Wall:E
Just when you thought Miyazaki had a monopoly on touching enchanting children’s entertainment, Pixar trumps him by rolling it up with one of the most biting satires I’ve ever seen in a Hollywood picture.  What seems to start out as a vague eco-fairy tale with a charming central character in the second half of the film starts taking digs at popular culture the likes of which I’ve not seen since Fight Club or Idiocracy.  And Pixar have managed it all while working for Disney!

I went home thoroughly impressed and with perhaps even a slight dampness in the corner of my eye.
8/10

The Dark Knight
As interesting a production as a Hollywood studio could ever make and one that had me thinking more than I had any right to expect.

There are a few problems, firstly for a film that takes itself so seriously there are some bits that are just really silly, the batvoice has to be reined a little for a start.  It’s comic origins work against it in a few segments as well, they do a spectacular job of making the film really feel like an exaggerated real world but still lose it from time to time.  Also the critically adored performance of Heath Ledger is a little slight, sure it’s great but he has what seems like 10 minutes total screen time.

This is a far braver transformation than Batman Begins though and when I was 15 and addicted to the animated series this would be my dream film, even more so than Burton’s Returns sequel.

The thinking part came from the politics suggested.  I am in no way coming round to the point of view it promotes but certainly it made me think more critically of my politics than any film I can think of (most films seem to support my positions than question them).  A very strange prospect indeed.
7/10

The story goes, producer Shinya Kawai made a drunken challenge to his director friends Ryuhei Kitamura and Yukihiko Tsutsumi.  Who could make the better film starring only 2 battling principal characters, in 1 set, and filming for only a week.  The two films that resulted Aragami by Ryuhei Kitamura and 2LDK by Yukihiko Tsutsumi are very different but an equally special result as could ever be hoped for from a night of drinking.

Aragami finds two badly wounded samurai arriving at a small temple only to be brought back to health by a mysterious swordsman.  As per the rules you can see where this is going, more so if you’re familiar with Ryuhei Kitamura.  His films range from spectacular crap like Versus and Azumi to spectacularly crap like Godzilla: Final Wars, which makes Aragami actually the classiest work of his I’ve seen.  There’s a great element of mystery and while the twists might not be so shocking when they come brilliantly choreographed fights and some barbed dialogue make this far more interesting than you may suspect.  There are a couple of occasions where Kitamura’s affection for crap shine through (I could’ve done without the epilogue) but this was an enjoyable surprise.

2LDK is a very different beast indeed, two aspiring actresses seemingly alike in only profession are chasing a crucial role that will either entirely validate their chosen life choices or crush their dreams, oh and they share an apartment.  When they separately arrive home from the audition petty arguments about shampoo and food develop into a much deeper assassination of each other’s character.  This is no tense drama and soon enough the house becomes full of prospective weapons.  I am completely unfamiliar with Yukihiko Tsutsumi but on this form I’ll be on the lookout for other films.  Please stick any recommendations in the comments.

Amazon will sell you the double-pack for a mere £9.

Aragami 7/10

2lDK 8/10

Gordon Liu returns to the Shaolin Temple again, but this time rather than playing the legendary monk San Te he plays a con-man trying to impersonate him.  This works to great success when he conspires with the workers at a dye factory to get their pay back from an oppressive boss.  Of course it backfires and our hero must learn how to become a man of substance.  He travels to Shaolin and starts the task of persuading the monks to train him.

There is a more comical theme to this than other Liu films I’ve seen and the Kung-fu is not exactly prompt in making it’s appearance.  Your patience will of course be rewarded though.  When it comes in a Mr. Miyagi style revelation the kung-fu is fantastically entertaining and you can be sure that “scaffolding kung-fu” is unlike any style you’re familiar with.

A touch more original (if in tone and style rather than plot) than many of it’s peers this is an impressive classic.
8/10

Fitzcarraldo

Herzog’s tale of obsession, capitalism, and colonialism takes up the tale of Fitzcarraldo played by Klaus Kinski. A wannabe rubber baron he comes up with a fantastic plan to harvest a previously inaccessible rubber tree forest in Peru. Of course this isn’t the first off the wall business enterprise he’s tried his hand at but more so than previously this one is set to push things to the limit.

His business aspirations have very little to do with a desire for success or respect his love of opera is what dirves him and this is what gives the film its core.

Herzog has shot an amazing film and mixes some pretty much unbelievable real footage with well chosen model shots. A spectacular portrait of a man.

BTW I see there’s a few recommended making of films about this, anyone care to recommend one?

9/10

Mein Liebster Feind

And then wow watched Mein Liebster Feind. I certainly had no idea about the extent of Klaus Kinski’s eccentricities, to put it mildly. The Indian’s in Fitzcarraldo offered to kill him for Herzog!

I always got the impression that Herzog was a very calm well considered kind of guy but there’s hints in the film that he had his own demons. I don’t know if that was just what Kinski brought out in him or not. Strange guy to have as your muse!

At least as important a filmmaking documentary as Heart of Darkness: 9/10

We arrived to late for Son of Rambow so faced with the unenviable selection of Step Up 2 and this I pushed for this.  This is the sort of film the phrase high concept was created for.  The US president is assassinated in Spain and a whole batch of people are there to see it happen.  What we get is the event replayed over and over from different perspectives slowly revealing the truth.

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I have no idea why I thought this would be a good idea.  I only saw Rambo 1 a few years ago and was surprised to find it’s almost a proper film.  Rambo  2 and 3 on the other hand I haven’t seen since I was 13 when I remember watching them with a pal and taking a tally of the number of deaths.

I guess I grew up.  Bad taste cinema and amusing gore has a big special place in my heart just as proper cinema does, unfortunately I don’t find that the two can ever mix.   The scenes of real violence in Burma and a huge dramatized massacre go together with the fountain of blood climax like a holocaust scene in Tom and Jerry.

All this and I’ve not even mentioned the politics.  The bad taste of mixing real world and stupid violence is one thing.  The Team America politics though have no place in 2008.

This is by far the closest I think I’ve ever been to walking out the cinema.

0/10

Juno
Last night was Juno.  It’s at least as sugary sweet and screaming I’m an independent film as Little Miss Sunshine.  To it’s credit it’s a far more enjoyable movie.  It’s less juvenile than last years Knocked Up and has it’s own story to follow.  The script takes about 20 minutes to settle (some of the dialogue is unnecessarily awkward) but there’s a pleasant enough film at it’s core.  The dialogue tries desperately hard to be the wittiest you’ve ever heard.  It’s snappy and sarcastic but gets on your nerves in the early parts of the film.  Thankfully, it chills a bit over it’s course.
7.5/10

Cloverfield
It’s basically Blair Witch with a monster.  Visceral is about the only way to describe it.  I mean you feel enough for the characters (though once again get fed up of their stupidity), but there’s no intellectual core to the film whatsoever.  It is a fairground ride pure and simple, you never have more to think about than what’s in front of you.  Assuming you don’t get motion sickness though this is entertaining while it lasts.
6/10

Killer of Sheep
A beautiful little film that reminds me a lot of the Bicycle Thief, pleasingly wikipedia tells me that’s the right answer

Twins of Evil
Classic Hammer with Peter Cushing and the lovely Collinson twins.  Great stuff though the witch burning zealots kept making me think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail..
Burn Her!!!
8/10

All That Jazz
I was absolutely certain I was going to hate this, I’ve been caught out before by highly recommended musicals (Chicago angry).  This was mostly great though, it devolved a bit in it’s climax into full on musical spectacular but until that point this was an interesting one.
7/10

I was initially taken by complete surprise at this film, for some reason I thought it was a serious Wong Kar Wai style effort.  I think I got the title confused with something else..  Anywho WKW this is not.  This is a South Korean action drama from Ji-woon Kim the director of A Tale of Two Sisters.

It like Two Sisters looks amazing.  There great shots throughout and some great action scenes.  The action is also nicely paced which makes it much more effective than recent hollywood efforts where you’re only ever 30 seconds away from the next explosion.

Unfortunately it’s the emotional core of the film that’s weak.  Maybe a silly thing to say about an action film but this isn’t a traditional one anyway.  This another revenge thriller, I was trying to avoid this comparison but I’m afraid I can’t help it, there is of course another Korean master of revenge Chan-wook Park.  His revenge trilogy  did all this much better and it’s Oldboy that I was thinking for while watching this.  Oldboy used it’s action to underpin an amazing film that entirely sucked you into it’s world and turned the revenge thriller on its head.  Bittersweet Life left me wanting much more ironicaly if it hadn’t tried so hard I think I might’ve enjoyed it more.

7/10

Sweeney Todd
Not to sound like a smart ass (I mean it’s a musical everyone sings what their thinking, subtlety isn’t a strong point) but I felt like I was always 2 steps ahead of this film.  It’s strange it’s like you’re constantly waiting for what you know is going to happen to just happen.
The blood is good, the songs are pants to begin with but get better, and it looks great.
5/10

Aliens vs Predator 2: Requim
My comments on Hitman was that it wasn’t bad enough.  AvP2 however is plenty bad, amongst the most terrible films I’ve ever seen.  There’s plenty to laugh at here, ridiculous acting and an insanely stupid plot-line (it fits the pubescent comic book origins of the series) are what’ll keep you going if you have the misfortune to see this.

The Action is rubbish, the gore is tame, there’s no scares here at all, and the actors are overpaid sacks of meat, but the stupidity of it is entertaining.  It’s just a shame they had throttle two of the best 80’s sci-fi franchises to make these terrible films.

Y tu mamá también
It’s been a long while since I’ve seen a good unusual film on a friend’s recommendation so Y tu mamá también was a great surprise.  It was a twist on the usual coming of age drama, really funny and touching.  It was a shame about the final epilogue which kind of spat on everything that had happened so far.
8/10

Shoot ‘em Up
Spectacularly awesome awesomeness, like Crank with carrots.
8/10

Far From Heaven
I was entirely hating this film and it’s obtrusive score until about 20 minutes in and it was all change.  An interesting study on 50’s prejudice.
7/10

Performance
Interesting but incredibly of its time.  I suppose this would make a good counterpart to The Song Remains the Same for the sadistic amongst you
6/10

High Art
Hmm, it seems that I’m describing the “quality” films here as interesting and the junk as genius.. I guess none of them really made me sit up and think.  This was decent enough study of personality awakening but nothing hugely special.
7/10

I can safely say this is the best film I’ve seen based on a videogame, but that of course means nothing at all.  It aims somewhere between supremely stupid XXX (sorry yes I’ve seen that too) and the smart-man’s favourite Bourne, which means it comes out a mess.  There’s some good parts along the way,  but it ends with a sputter and the pretty all round senseless plot starts to bore.

Not as stupidly entertaining as it should be, but still my own stupid fault for going to see it.