in bruges (2008)

i picked this up as a case of light entertainment post-changeling, and while i didnt expect much, it really impressed. it also contains possibly the finest joke heard in a fim this year, in the shape of -

"what is belgium famous for?" chocolate and child murderers, and they only made the chocolate to attract the children."

or something along those lines.

changeling (2008)

my recent season of eastwood films comes to an end with the theatrical release of ''changeling''.

one could be excused for going into ''changeling'' expecting the angelina jolie-fest advertised within the pre-film press, alas i was surprised to find that the film was more of an ensemble piece than anything. and an incredibly well made one at that. my love of the work of clint eastwood's work is no secret, there is something incredibly appealing about his unique, almost "workmanlike-with-a-hint-of-auteur" style, and it lends itself especially well to tough topics such as child abuse (mystic river), euthanasia (million dollar baby) and now the subject of child murder and the loss of said child. eastwood thrives off of the kind of topics that dont need nor warrent over the top camera work or glossy special effects, a habit which hints at a huge amount of respect on the behalf of the filmmaker.

the cast is incredibly strong an ensemble, with special notices going to michael kelly as the detective that actually attempts to detect, john malkovich as the pastor that serves to reek justice against the corrupt los angeles police force and jason butler harner as child killer gordon northcott. its butler harner in particular that stands out, in what is perhaps the finest turn as a serial killer-type seen all year.

while the ending of the film is considered bleak by many, it actually carries a fairly high degree of hope.

blow up (1966)

my first experience with antonioni proved a great one (inspiring the decision to pick up his "the passenger" and "red desert" off of the back of this successful viewing!). a filmmaker that i had never been greatly attracted to, antonioni has always alluded me in the past, with blow up long being criminally ignored as i was under the impression that it was simply a product of "the swinging sixties", a period of time i find to be incredibly embaressing (witness the finale of 'carry on camping' for my reasons as to this conclusion).

david hemmings plays a hip young photographer, who MAY have accidently photographed a murder in a park. as to whether or not this is true its never literally revealed, although im inclined to agree with the metaphor carried at the end of the film (that 'you can see what you want to see, even if it doesnt exist' being the message).

for a film prided on its score, and considering the cultural impact of music at the time of the films production, blow up is a very quiet film. entire chunks of the film carry no sound whatsoever, before crashing into the following scene with oral hell, in what are chaotic and loud scenes. the pacing of the film is beautiful. its a bit of a cliche, but blow up is one of those films that you simply dont want to end. i found the world encapsulated totally believable, in a fantastical sense, and felt like i could watch david hemmings break down emotionally all day long! now if that isnt a compliment...

coogan's bluff (1968)

early-era eastwood that satisfies greatly. i would say more, but frankly im a little bit worn out when it comes to discussing eastwood at the moment!

the hopeandbullshitlist (at 25/11/2008)

1. sunrise (f.w murnau)
2. bottle rocket (wes anderson)
3. the outlaw josey wales (clint eastwood)
4. unforgiven (clint eastwood)
5. f for fake (orson welles)
6. the brothers bloom (rian johnson)
7. days of heaven (terence malick)
8. wall-e (andrew stanton)
9. blindness (fernando meirelles)
10. killer's kiss (stanley kubrick)
11. dirty harry (don siegal)
12. mad detective (johnnie to & wai ka fa)
13. the idiot (akira kurosawa)
14. iron man (jon favreau)
15. play misty for me (clint eastwood)
16. bigger than life (nicholas ray)
17.bronco billy (clint eastwood)
18. the gauntlet (clint eastwood)
19. breezy (clint eastwood)
20. magnum force (ted post)
21. casino royale (martin campbell)
22. body of lies (ridley scott)
23. indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull (steven spielberg)
24. space cowboys (clint eastwood)
25. quantum of solace (marc forster)
26. wanted (timur bekmambetov)
27. the magnificent ambersons (orson welles)
28. the enforcer (james fargo)
29. joe kidd (john sturges)
30. goldeneye (martin campbell)
31. night watch (timur bekmambetov)
32. zack and miri make a porno (kevin smith)
33. goldfinger (guy hamilton)
34. you only live twice (lewis gilbert)
35. mad max - beyond thunderdome (george miller & george ogilvie)
36. die another day (lee tamahori)
37. W. (oliver stone)

the enforcer (1976)

eastwood's third outing as dirty harry see's our eponymous hero dealing with such arduous challenges as discrimination and progression. for here we see harry partnered with a female inspector whilst having to deal with a gang of socialist terrorists. kinda. its fairly confusing as to what exactly the terrorists represent, but its some sort of veiled attack on socialism by the producers i think. oh and one of them is a priest of sorts. its all a bit odd really, but harry as a character is so entertaining that all of these problems are disguised adequetly.

it was with "the enforcer" that i noticed that the dirty harry films are kind of like an alternative bond franchise. it has a similiar structure to each episode, much in the same manner that the bond films work.

wall-e (2008)

having seen wall-e upon its original release i knew exactly what to expect, but still anticipated a second viewing greatly. wall-e is such an endearing character that much has already been written about it, so to delve into that aspect is fairly unnecessary, alas i will simply add that a more empathetic and charming computer generated character has not been seen by myself. gollum included.

the wordless introduction to the film (i would hesitate to call it silent, as it isnt), cues the film perfectly. while not as revolutionary as thought upon first viewing it is still incredibly daring.

blindness (2008)

fernando meirelles follow up 'city of god' (2002) and 'the constant gardener' (2005) is a miraculous piece of cinema. from what must go down as one of the most terrifying opening scenes in modern cinema, through to the joyful climax i was thoroughly gripped.

i wanted to let the film lie for a while before posting my review, as based on what others have said about the film i was under the impression that the film lacked any real soul, or point, and unfortunately i can confirm that this is almost the case. the film itself was incedibly powerful an experience, yet post-thought i have to be honest and admit that the lack of substance has really caught up with my opinion. it is a great film tho, one definately worth seeking out, and worthy of a place on my top 20 of the year.

bronco billy (1980)

when i set out on the current task of working through the back catalogue of clint eastwood i knew that the job would involve some dubious pictures, largely in the shape of an orangutan named clyde. i have to admit that i lumped bronco billy in with the wave of eighties eastwood films that were basically poor comedy-action hybrids, but i couldnt have been more wrong. bronco billy is ridicuously enjoyable. sure the film has its problems, the storyline involving sandra locke's stranded millionaress heir is a bit ditracting, but the general concept is really strong.

body of lies (2008)

a surprisingly enjoyable post 9/11 thriller directed by the increasingly dull ridley scott. leonardo dicaprio is always great, and was here, with russell crowe on good, if not outstanding form as dicaprio's modern day wingman. boston doubling for manchester is slightly dubious, and the politics are rather suspect, especially when you consider that this is a film made by a british filmmaker, but all in all it was an entertaining two hours or so.

joe kidd (1972)

fairly average mid-career eastwood, ably directed by john sturges. while the film is plenty entertaining, its hardly revolutionary cinema.

zack and miri make a porno (2008)

i had two hours to kill this afternoon so decided to take in a screening. first things first - as a teenager i loved kevin smiths films. mallrats was a late night tv classic for me and my friends. there will always be a special place in my heart for that film, along with clerks and chasing amy. dogma was great too, and while, as a film its pretty dire, jay and silent bob struck the right chord at the time. i was one of the few people that actively enjoyed jersey girl, even to the point that i was disapointed when smith returned to the view askewniverse with clerks 2, although after seeing the film i was grateful he did. and while over the years i think i have maybe grown out of enjoying his films in the same way as i did as a 17 year old, i have always had time for them, and always, at the very least, enjoyed them.

unfortunately that ends with zack and miri.

not being a fan of seth rogen was always going to prove a problem. i cant help but think just how much funnier this film would have been had someone like jason lee played the role of zack, alas that is beside the point, the film suffers from something much more severe than a simple case of mis-casting. smith's dialogue simply isnt funny to me anymore. emphasis on cursewords in lieu of genuine wit is one thing, but the long held problem that smith cant write dialogue for women has never been more obvious than in zack and miri. take into account the bizarre treatment of banks' character at certain points and you have a film thats perspective is borderline misogynistic at certain points, reminiscent of the more particular over zealous internet geek-sites that smith himself ripped apart in jay and silent bob strikes back. by the way he writes it sounds like he doesnt have a clue about women.

if there were a prize for bad titles, then ''zack and miri'' would take it. handsdown the worst title iv heard this year.

there were a few positives; craig robinson had some great lines, they even raised a chuckle, and jeff anderson is always great value, if not slightly jarring when out of the comfort zone of randall. justin long's voice was a sound to behold and it was great to see brandon routh back actually doing something. overall though i just couldnt help but feel like smith didnt have anything to say, yet was still managing to say it badly.

breezy (1973)

"breezy" was the first clint eastwood film not to star clint eastwood himself, its appropriate that its the first none-clint starring film that iv viewed on this run. having not previously seen the film, i was pleasantly surprised by the slow, assured nature of the drama, which is reminiscent of martin scorsese's "alice doesn't live here anymore" (1974) in style, and hal ashby's wonderful "harold and maude" (1971) in subject. "breezy" would make an interesting double bill alongside ashby's film, as both deal with "may to december"-style relationships, albeit with a spin on the couples (with "breezy" featuring an older gentleman with a younger girl, and "harold and maude" looking at an elderly woman and young man). while "harold and maude" looks at the relationships with comedy the focus, "breezy" takes a psychological and dramatic stance, and while its clear that both films deal with similar material, its fairly apparent just how different the two films are.

william holden plays the aging male lead, known as "black cloud" to the young, stereotypical "flower child" breezy, a girl who is seemingly so optimistic that nothing gets to her. the only holden performance seen by myself to date is in sam peckinpah's "the wild bunch" (1969), obviously a fairly different role!

it will become more apparent how and where exactly "breezy" fits into eastwood's oeuvre as my season goes along. it will be especially interesting to see how it sits alongside his other none-starring films.

bottle rocket (1996)

wes anderson's debut feature is being released as part of the prestigious criterion collection at the end of this month, joining the rest of his body of work (with the exception of 'the darjeeling limited'). my copy arrived early, and while i havent had a look at the extras yet i did watch the film tonight. having seen the film countless times it was hardly a new experience, but i had consciously made an effort to not watch 'bottle rocket' since first first hearing about the criterion release over a year ago, so there was a freshness to the film that i hadnt felt in a long time.

im not sure for definite, but i think that 'bottle rocket' may now be my favourite wes anderson film. as character is one of anderson's key strong point (as mentioned by martin scorsese in a text introduction to the film) its hardly a revelation for me to express how strongly i feel the characters are in the film, yet i feel compelled to. an indication of just how strongly the characters of dignan (owen wilson, who also co-wrote the flick), anthony (luke wilson), bob (robert musgrave) and inez (lumi cavazos) effected me my immediately thoughts after the film turned to a thought not often deliberated by myself; why doesnt wes anderson make a sequel to 'bottle rocket'?

dont get me wrong, im not a huge fan of sequel's, generally viewing them as soulless cash-in's, but i feel like 'bottle rocket' could genuinely benefit from a real-time based sequel. while i balk at the mere thought of a sequel to "rushmore" (1997) and cant think of anything more unnecessary than a 'the royal tenenbaums' follow-up, i genuinely would like to know what befated dignan post-prison, and how the relationship between anthony and inez panned out (in my heart of hearts i know that theyve settled down and have a bunch of kids running around, attempting 'adventures' of sorts. perhaps even "uncle" dignan would figure, a second generation bad influence... o'how one can dream).

stylistically the film is surprisingly well-developed in terms of anderson's look, especially considering it was his debut picture and so technically he couldnt have actually developed a style per-se. regardless of pedant, the film looks wonderful and really displays anderson's unique outlook on film.

magnum force (1973)

the follow up to dirty harry doesnt reach the heights of its predecessors but it does raise some interesting notions. for a start we receive an insight into harry's personal politics, revealing much of his character. for example, the presumed rebel without a cause of the first film, with his instinctful, shoot from the hip attitude is revealed to be more of a rebel within reason, when confronted with some genuinely provocative workmates. a respect for order from the chaotic maverick is found, and while it may be considered contradictory a trait by some, i would argue that it adds a level of depth to the character that was previously missing.

of course there are a couple of qualms with the project. for a start the age old rule of sequel's going for the "bigger is better" attitude of including more villains applies here, and while david soul is surprisingly creepy, hes no match for andrew robinson as the previous films scorpio, nor are the assortment of other bad guys. also, the previous film ended with harry effectively quitting the force, by throwing his badge into the watering hole that signified scorpio's demise, yet no mention of this is made by harry (or indeed anyone else) throughout magnum force.

dirty harry (1971)

its been a while since i had seen dirty harry, at least four years. in those four years david fincher's masterful "zodiac" (2007) has been and gone, and one of my big worries that came with that films success was that i may not be able to take don seagal's unofficial take on san fransisco's zodiac killing's seriously under this new light. im pleased to report that that wasnt the case, and that i can extend my disbelief far enough to forgive any of the films shortcomings, at least when it comes to the very hollywood take on what was a pretty distressing period in san francisco' recent history.

san fransisco is the unbilled co-star in the first dirty harry film. in fact it was through this viewer's research of the city of san fransisco that he found out about the film, from an academic point of view at least. a few years back i was looking at sitting my masters degree at the san fransisco academy of art, when, through the program for the university, in a section on notable films shot in the city that i first delved into this, the first in eastwood's flagship franchise (alongside such other films as hitchcock's "vertigo" (1958) and orson welles' often overlooked "the lady from shanghai" (1947); incidently, soon to be remade, in name at least, by wong kar-wai)

the character of 'scorpio', billed simply as "the killer" in the credits of the film, is based loosely on that of the zodiac killer. i say loosely because very little was known about the zodiac killer, as anyone who's seen fincher film will attest to. the style of the character is drawn from that of the zodiac, the way the character manipulated and used the media to accomplish his task is exagerated in "dirty harry" (see the use of the media during the killers scene in the hospital, post staged-beating) from that of the real case, and while little focus is made of the print industry's involvement, mention is made.

the hopeandbullshitlist (at 17/11/2008)

theres no change at number one, but eastwood has knocked his own number two placing for "unforgiven" down a spot with "the outlaw josey wales". to be honest im very surprsed with the quality of the films so far, i mean with a film as good as "the magnificent ambersons" at 19 thats saying something.

1. sunrise (f.w murnau)
2. the outlaw josey wales (clint eastwood)
3. unforgiven (clint eastwood)
4. f for fake (orson welles)
5. the brothers bloom (rian johnson)
6. days of heaven (terence malick)
7. killer's kiss (stanley kubrick)
8. mad detective (johnnie to & wai ka fa)
9. the idiot (akira kurosawa)
10. iron man (jon favreau)
11. play misty for me (clint eastwood)
12. bigger than life (nicholas ray)
13. the gauntlet (clint eastwood)
14. casino royale (martin campbell)
15. indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull (steven spielberg)
16. space cowboys (clint eastwood)
17. quantum of solace (marc forster)
18. wanted (timur bekmambetov)
19. the magnificent ambersons (orson welles)
20. goldeneye (martin campbell)
21. night watch (timur bekmambetov)
22. goldfinger (guy hamilton)
23. you only live twice (lewis gilbert)
24. mad max - beyond thunderdome (george miller & george ogilvie)
25. die another day (lee tamahori)
26. W. (oliver stone)

space cowboys (2000)

space cowboys represents clint eastwood's first and only (to date) venture into the realms of borderline science fiction. it tells the story of four elderly former trainee astronauts, led by eastwood himself, who never originally had the opportunity to make the journey into space when they were actually supposed to. anyway basically a system that only they know how to use breaks down and its up to them to head into space to fix said problem.

the film has taken a lot of flack in the past, and has largely been forgotten (to be honest i thought it was much older than ten years old) by many, but i actually found it really enjoyable. yes the story is ridiculous, and yes, on paper at least, its a very tired conceit, but the reality of it is that its a very enjoyable and largely FUN film. the ending is a great example of a great fairytale ending too, simply wonderful.

in terms of fitting in alongside the rest of eastwood's oeuvre, im not sure exactly where "space cowboys" fits in. it follows in the log tradition of eastwood's habit of turning genre's on their heads and approaching them from a unique or post-modern angle, films such as "the outlaw josey wales", "million dollar baby" and "mystic river".

it's been a relatively quiet week...

for reasons unknown, i have only managed to catch three films since monday. im not sure why exactly. i watched the first half of mystic river last night, but as i didnt finish it i didnt think it was fair to include it in the list just yet.

i have some really exciting films to get through this week, including murnau's "faust", a film iv meant to get around to seeing for a long time. im going to make a start on the dirty harry series this week too. iv only seen the first one, and that was a while ago now too, so im looking forward to it.

the outlaw josey wales (1976)

clint eastwood's fifth film as a director is perhaps his most remarkable. "the outlaw josey wales" is simply an utter joy of a film, turning the western and revenge genre's on their respective heads and pushing the boundaries of hollywood drama.

everybody knows the story of how "the outlaw josey wales" is an analogy for the war in vietnam, so i wont explore that concept here. i like looking at the film as a predecessor to the modern vogue of taking a hero and emphasising the concept that the hero in question is out of their time. this is where any similiarities bear to real conflict, be it vietnam, iraq or the battle of endor, and their heroes (read victims) are strongest.

the modern western, in the shape of "the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford" (2007) and "there will be blood" (2007) take a lot of inspiration from eastwood's film, in fact its probably not an overstatement to suggest that "the outlaw josey wales" paved the way for the aforementioned films, as well as countless others (not forgetting eastwood's own "unforgiven").

the idiot (1951)

it has been mentioned in the past how i am rather fond of akira kurosawa's melodramatic films, despite not being able to get a handle on his more popular samurai films. im not sure why exactly this is, i have always blamed the complicated politics of the films as the probable reason, and have all but given up on the genre. "the idiot" is kurosawa's love letter of sorts to the work of fyodor dostoevsky, with the source material's location of russia being transferred to kurosawa's home of japan. not having read the novel i cant attain to it personally, but the film is said to be fairly close an adaptation to the original book. based upon the fact that the film is paced very similiar to that of a novel in the way that the relationships and characters develop it would certainly seem that this is the case.

akira kurosawa's "scandal" (1950), produced just one year before "the idiot" is one of my very favourite films, hence the seeking out of this picture, and while it doesnt reach the heights of "scandal" its still a magnificent film. if one looks back on kurosawa's run throughout the early 1950's it truly is quite the accomplishment, regardless of your feelings towards some of the work. alongside "scandal" and "the idiot", kurosawa produced "rashomon" (1951), "ikiru" (1952) and "the seven samurai" (1954), truly a genuinely historical run of films.

indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull (2008)

having heard many a terrible thing about the most recent indiana jones i didnt expect much from this. i avoided it in the summer rush as iv never been the biggest fan of dr. jones, but as it was on release week special i decided to give it a go.

and what can i say, i was actually impressed. ford carried the role well, it was nice to see karen allen back, and john hurt played the role of a nutjob well. even shia labouef wasnt that bad. the only real qualm i had with the whole thing was the fact that it felt at times like an "indy & friends" feature, rather than a bona-fide indiana jones film. it would have been nice to see him tackle the final act alone, instead of being accompanied by all manner of folk.

one question tho - whats with the beaver/monkey inclusion?!? baffling.

the hopeandbullshitlist (at 11/11/2008)

1. sunrise
2. unforgiven
3. f for fake
4. the brothers bloom
5. days of heaven
6. killer's kiss
7. mad detective
8. iron man
9. play misty for me
10. bigger than life
11. the gauntlet
12. casino royale
13. quantum of solace
14. wanted
15. the magnificent ambersons
16. goldeneye
17. night watch
18. goldfinger
19. you only live twice
20. mad max - beyond thunderdome
21. die another day
22. W.

killer's kiss (1955)

there's something incredibly satisfying about a short film. i dont mean a short film in general, im referring to the sort of film that gets the story done and dusted in an hour or so without the need for any sort of padding. stanley kubrick's sophomore effort, 'killer's kiss' is one such film. the story of a boxer who falls for his dancer neighbour, after saving her from the hand of her obsessive employee.

the film acts as a precursor of sorts for many of the themes explored in kubrick's later work, in particular the obsessive love theme of 'lolita', as well as a direct visual reference to 'the shining'. the film reminded me greatly of allen baron's 1961 post-noir crime hitman drama 'blast of silence'. thematically 'killer's kiss' is slightly less developed than baron's post-modern magnum opus, yet the films remain in the same quarter of the mind for some reason.

play misty for me (1971)

clint eastwood's directorial debut shines as an example of a debut turn. the film carries elements of the horror genre, but rather than exploiting those themes in the usual manner, eastwood places the drama in the quasi-realistic realm of that of a borderline-celebrity local radio disc jockey. interestingly enough, like 'bigger than life', 'play misty for me' is reminiscent of 1962's 'cape fear', albeit for different reasons maintaining the same key ingredient - tension.

in terms of directorial debut's the film is regarded fairly highly, and for good reason too. its an engaging and very successful film, maintaining the attention of the viewer throughout, as the layers of tension move forward to an unpredictable, in the sense of mood rather than narrative, climax.

bigger than life (1956)

as nicholas ray's film started i imagined how incredible these opening shots would have looked in cinemascope. to date i have only experienced one film in the wonderful format, jack cardiff's* "scent of mystery" (1960). its a fairly unusual format, at least it is compared to anything we would find familiar these days. basically the screen is extra wide and curved, conveying the feeling of being surrounded by the image to the viewer. the title scene of 'bigger than life' involves reels of children running out of a school, towards and around the camera, so its probably quite understandable as to why the cinemascope format so perfectly.

'bigger than life' tells the story of ed avery, a middle class school teacher, working part time as a cab-clerk in order to support his family. through an illness presumably a result of his exhaustion from working both jobs, avery finds himself with a predicament - try a new miracle-cure, or die from his ills. after becoming addicted and dependant on the miracle cure avery's mood changes hugely, culminating in an attempt on his family's life. the film reminded me greatly of the original cape fear (1962), with the tension building throughout leading to the borderline-unbearable climax.

its worth noting just how bold some of the dialogue and concepts within the film are, and just how relevant the piece remains. lines such as "God was wrong!" or "childhood is a congenital disease - and the purpose of education is to cure it. we're breeding a race of moral midgets." would be incredibly daring in a hollywood studio film today, let alone 52 years ago.


*jack cardiff was michael powell & emeric pressburger's longterm cinematographer, shooting such classics as the red shoes and black narcissus for them. "scent of mystery" was the first studio film to be shot in smell-o-vision according to cardiff, who was present at the screening. the film carried the inspired tagline of "first they moved (1895)! then they talked (1927)! now they smell!" and features a wonderful cameo by elizabeth taylor.

unforgiven (1992)

clint eastwood's most successful film, and indeed one of the most successful films of all time (critically at least) is one that i hadnt personally revisited for almost ten years. im a big fan of westerns, and have always considered john ford's 'the searchers' (1956) to be the piece de resistance example of the post-modern western, pre-dating unforgiven for the best part of forty years. in retrospect, rather than considering unforgiven to be 'the searchers' lesser, i should have considered it to be a post-modern take on a different genre of film. i was naive to think of a genre as well worn as the western to be as short sighted as just that - a genre, when i fact its much more.

clint eastwood plays william munny, a retired gunslinger tempted back into the field with the premise of one last job. what follows is a seering examination of the western genre. im looking at this film in much greater detail in a few months.

W. (2008)

in a week that has seen a great deal of change in the oval office, i looked forward to spending a couple of hours looking back at the current admission in full knowledge that world politics was now devoid of the idiocy on display in oliver stone's current picture. "oh how we'll laugh!" i thought, and looked forward to seeing the film a great deal.

first things first. the good. josh brolin as bush is wonderful. his performance is inspired, if not up to his recent work with the coen brothers.

in all honesty brolin's performance is the one positive from the experience of seeing W. the main problem stems from the fact that the film doesnt seem to know what it is. a times its high drama, while at others its a second rate comedy, aiming at far too obvious targets using comedically unaccomplished actors. top of the pile of mediocracy is thandie newton, here supposedly playing condoleezza rice, although i personally dont consider a routine of tics and exagerated mannerisms to be much of a performance. i genuinely cant think of a worse performance that iv ever seen in a film, it brings the whole thing down to the level of a quickly produced saturday night skit.

im not the worlds biggest fan of oliver stone. jfk is a complete and utter masterpiece, one of the greatest films ever made, but aside from that i consider his body of work to be fairly lacking. his most recent work especially seems to lack the political bite that his earlier work had, which is particularly strange considering that his last two films have been about 9/11 (world trade centre) and george bush.

one positive thought that did come out of this fairly mediocre experience was the concept of time contextuality in film. let me explain - i saw W. two days after the new president elect was chosen, therefore my experience was much different to how it would have been had i seen the film two days before barack obama's victory.

the gauntlet (1977)

considered by many to be a post-modern take on the dirty harry style of detective drama, the gauntlet is very much a guilty pleasure. loosely remade a few years back as 16 blocks, a bruce willis vehicle, the gauntlet tells the story of a deadbeat cop given the task of transporting an important witness from location to location.

the poster above pretty much indicates the nature of the film, but in all honesty it actually lets the film down in one respect, as it barely does justice in getting the quality of the film across. its a great deal of fun.

P.S i think this film may hold the record for most bullets fired in a film. the final shootout is beyond crazy, putting to shame the sort of modern day action theatrics seen in films like "wanted" or the like.

clint eastwood season.

to celebrate the release of clint eastwood's newest film, changeling, next week, i have decided that an eastwood retrospective is in order. someone claimed recently that eastwood is america's finest living filmmaker, a moniker usually reserved for martin scorsese, or at a push steven spielberg. as a big fan of eastwood (albeit not as big as i am a fan of scorsese) i can definately see where the person in question is coming from, though im not sure i agree. the breadth of eastwood's work is ridiculously epic, he covers pretty much every genre, and in the last few years especially, he has covered these genre's in an enviable manner. to date my favourite eastwood film is probably mystic river. sean penn's performance is without par, and the film is just beautifully crafted. if you take into account the fact that eastwood directed and starred in million dollar baby less than twelve months later an idea of the mans consistency will be easily garnered. again, this can be seen in his war film double bill of two years back (flags of our fathers & letters from iwa jima) and in this years changeling and gran torino.

throughout the course of this season i shall be taking a look at the following -

the gauntlet (1977)
unforgiven (1992)
the outlaw josey wales (1996)
play misty for me (1971)
million dollar baby (2004)
the ENTIRE dirty harry series (1971-1988)

and maybe a couple more (im really tempted to give mystic river a run in the ol' dvd player, it all depends on time). the whole thing will culminate in seeing changeling at the cinema on the 28th.

mad detective (2007)

eureka video's masters of cinema series is usually reserved for the work of classic filmmakers such as f.w. murnau (as seen in the recently discussed and current number 1 film of all time in the hopeandbullshitlist) and fritz lang, but johnie to & wai ka fai 2007 thriller represents a new era in the MOC structure, in the shape of a contemporary title being released theatrically through the label.

the masters of cinema series is basically the closest thing that british dvd distribution has to the criterion collection. that is to say that its a boutique studio specialising in areas of film neglected by the usual outlets, financing restoration work and releasing obscure or forgotten work. what follows is the pitch from the MOC website -

Masters of Cinema is an organic, international initiative founded in 2001 by four friends with a mutual interest in a particular type of filmmaker. Now five-strong, and living thousands of miles apart from each other in three different countries, we aim to bring pertinent information together in one place for aficionados of World Cinema. In early 2004, Masters of Cinema began working with Eureka (UK) on a Masters of Cinema Series of DVDs.



so, as i mentioned before, mad detective represents MOC's venture into contemporary film. a very brief cinema run occured in the summer, but the film was only showing anywhere remotely near me whilst i was away in paris i didnt have an oppurtunity to see it until now. now im not the biggest fan of asian cinema, and aside from the work on wong kar-wai and a bunch of akira kurosawa melodrama's ('scandal', his finest work, is available on MOC incidently) its not a part of the world with whom's cinema im overtly aware of, that is to say that i entered mad detective with an air of caution. character politics are an area of hong kong cinema that i have always got lost in and confused by, something that i pertain as to causing my dismay with the "genre" of sorts. it may sound ignorant or pretentious to refer to a whole continent's cinema as a genre, but its not meant in that manner. im acknowledging my lack of famiarity with the area of film and its simply a sign of my own losses that i may come off as ignorant! it is with great relief and slight embaressment that i can express my sincere pleasure that mad detective was enjoyed. the film is a thriller of sorts, in which the titular "mad detective", chan kwai bun, played with personal revelatory, intense charm by ching wan lau. the character of bun, a disgraced former detective (disgraced through the act of cutting his own ear off and giving it to his superior as a retirement gift) has the ability to literally "see" a persons inner-character, a technique that he has used to solve many obscure crimes over the years. he is called back into action after a former colleague goes missing while on duty and appears to have turned to a life of crime. what i found to be especially refreshing about the film was the lack of the sort of twist/turn that one has come to expect from a modern hollywood thriller. at the same time it didnt feel conventional at all, which is an very subtle but huge achievement. the basic premise, followed by an equally basic turn of events lead one to compare the film to the american film noir of the forties, structure-wise at least, so in effect the film is not hugely different from its masters of cinema peers.

the next contemporary release will be tokyo sonato, heading to cinema's on the 30th january before hitting dvd some two months later. i will no doubt be picking it up on dvd at the very least, although i do hope i will have the opportunity to actually see this release in a cinema. as mentioned above im not the hugest fan of contemporary asian cinema but trust and value the MOC series to deliver a quality product, although i do hope that some contemporary french and german cinema is on the cards.

getting my stuffs in order...

as mentioned previously, im going to put every single film i see in order of preference. while it may not seem especially interesting right now, in a couple of months time it should be something rather special.

1. sunrise
2. f for fake
3. the brothers bloom
4. days of heaven
5. iron man
6. casino royale
7. quantum of solace
8. wanted
9. the magnificent ambersons
10. goldeneye
11. night watch
12. goldfinger
13. you only live twice
14. mad max - beyond thunderdome
15. die another day

iron man (2008)

jon favreau's iron man marked a watershed in comic book movies. for the first time marvel, as a company, had the means by which to produce its own films. while it may not sound like a huge deal to the unaware, the concept of marvel owning the cinematic rights to its own characters is something of a golden age (pun intended for those who'd get it) for the fans. basically it means that the characters are free to cross over within each others film, a conceit popular within the world of comic book films but so far unexplored in the film universes due to the fact that while sony may own spider-man, fox own the x-men, and neither are too fond of the other using "their" property for financial gain. anyway, now that marvel exist as a bona-fide film studio the hypothetical capabilities for a character like iron man to appear in an incredible hulk film does now exist. and it did in fact happen in the summer of 2008. all of this is leading to a grande meeting of the marvel universe in the summer of 2011 when all of the flagship marvel characters will appear in "the avengers".

aside from a hopeful future, iron man provides more. more in the shape of an entertaining two hours of blockbuster cinema. robert downey jr shines as tony stark, the alcoholic billionaire who becomes iron man after escaping capture by a topicla bunch of thugs. downey jr is so perfect in the role, that if it werent for the fact that the character of stark is actually 2 years older than downey jr himself i would expect that the character was written with him in mind.

where the film lacks the most, although admittedly on second viewing it wasnt as shortcoming as initially felt, is in a suitable villain to pit against stark. while jeff bridges is adequete enough, his obadiah stane sadly feels lacking, especially in light of there being such an iconic villain in this summers other superhero yarn.

habits and seasoning...

at this point in my blog i think it would be fair of me to explain exactly how my viewing habits work.

you may notice an abundance of james bond films recently. five in total i think. this is a good indication of the way that i watch films in cycles, or seasons that explore the segment of cinema in depth. now that i have finished with bond for the time being (i have an unopened copy of "dr no" that i may watch one night if i cant sleep) im going back to the orson welles and terrence malick seasons started a few weeks back.

i watch a lot of films late at night, sometimes over a few days. these are the films i consider to be lesser ones, hence the large number of bond films viewed over a relatively busy period of time. its at a busy time like this that the films i want to dedicate respectable time to suffer, which explains the fact that there are sealed copies of malick's "the new world - extended cut" and the newly issued "touch of evil" box set (amongst many others) sat atop my bookcase awaiting viewing and subsequent reviewing (although i prefer the term '"discussing"). hopefully now that the busy period hindering my viewing has passed i will be able to explore the sort of films i truly enjoy in greater frequency. first up, tonight im going to take a look at the masters of cinema title "mad detective" (2007).

die another day (2002)

die another day is arguably so bad that it killed a franchise that had, at the point, lasted forty years and produced hundreds of millions of dollars of profit. it was out of morbid curiosity that this title was picked up, alongside the very first bond flick, dr. no, as part of the "buy bond, get bond" free offer thats currently in commision.

the sight of james bond surfing whilst holding onto a parachute is one that i will not forget in a hurry, though not necessarily for the right reason. add to this the concept of an invisible car (surely the deus ex machina of gadgets) and you have a film that is so bloated and smarmy that its no surprise that the producers went back to the beginning for the next film.

comparisons to joel shumacher's 'batman and robin' (1998) and the manner in which that too killed its respective franchise are apt, as both are great examples of a thoroughly modern phenomenon - the franchise with an ego. its fairly common for a filmmaker or a star to be accused of being self-indulgent with projects, but it was the hyper marketing of the nineties that brought with it the egotistical brand. at least the batman and bond franchises have been saved in recent times, but i cant help but think that this is cycle that will come around every few years with certain franchises.