revolutionary road (2009)

kate winslett and leonardo dicaprio are reunited 12 years after ''titanic'' in sam mendes' adaptation of richard yates' 1961 novel. i found it interesting to discover that the novel was written so closely to the time of the films setting (1955), as it genuinely felt like a post-modern take on the subject matter, akin highly to "mad men". alas when taking into account the authenticity that the date of the publication of the source then an even higher level of praise is pushed onto the project.

in short, i loved ''revolutionary road", which came as quite the surprise to me. i actually enjoyed it much more than the other high profile releases of the awards season (excpet for maybe ''the wrestler"). im not sure why exactly, maybe it was that the themes spoke to me in a fairly direct manner, that whole thing about the hope of fruitility and of leading an extraordianary life struck me as quite real and rather timely. the performances were very strong too, with dicaprio once again proving why he is one of the best actors of his generation and winslett in the role that she should have received the oscar nomination for.

the film is beautifully shot by roger deakins, the man whom i consider to be the best cinematographer in the world. if anyone has been snubbed at this years oscars it is deakins, but saying that he should have won last year for "the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford" too, but didnt. sam mendes direction is perfect for the source material; the nature of the raw emotion of the story doesnt require fast editing or over the top visuals. thats not to say that the film doesnt feature striking direction, it does, its just different to that of some of the other work in this vein. the soundtrack, courtesy of thomas newman compliments the tone of the film perfectly. the use of period jazz songs works well too.

transformers (2007)

michael bay's magnum opus has the honour of being the sole film i have walked out of a cinema screening of. i just found it to be a horribly slow and dull film, with poor special effects and no plot. for the sakes of my current studies i decided to give it another chance on dvd. over the course of 4 days i eventually managed to get through it. to be fair to it, its not actually that bad, its just not my type of thing. the sequel looks promising too, lets just hope they bypass the negatives this time.

the one over-ridingly awful aspect of "transformers comes in the shape of its absolutely terrible humour. its just awful, not funny and embarassingly scripted. michael bay cannot 'do' humour, i was cringing for a good chunk of ''transformers'' bloated running time. related to the humour is the bizarre decision to include a robot that is seemingly based upon a heavy stereotype of black people. it was very strange. iv christened this guy 'rap-bot'. seriously its like something from the 80's, when hollywood first tried to latch onto rap and other 'street' activity. in short its embarassing.

im glad to report that with his most recent fare, michael bay has evolved from the simple "use sun-glare to hide any problems" school of problems. seemingly this has been replaced, or at least split equally between the use of the usual sunlight and the newly implemented torchlight. its an effective technique, at least when it comes to hiding the poor viewers eyes from poorly shot landscapes.

the rock (1996)

once again my studies dictate that i must head into unchartered territory, and an unattractive challenge lies ahead. michael bay is perhaps the opposite to what i love about cinema. his "edit-so-fast-and-you-wont-have-chance-to-see-any-problems" attitude of filmmaking jars with my usual preferences, but in an attempt to understand just exactly what it is about his work that i dislike so much i have set myself a challenge; work my way through his body of work.

with that in mind i started with his sean connery and nicolas cage starring "the rock" from 1996. in all fairness it wasnt as bad as i expected it to be, but the usual bay hallmarks of slightly racist caricature's and lots of sun-glare is evident aplenty. the film leads with a semi-interesting premise, as a post modern james bond-type leads a group of marines and a scientist into alcatraz prison. therein lies the twist, how clever that they are actually breaking INTO a prison, as opposed to breaking OUT?! i hope the irony isnt too subtle for you. bafflingly enough, "the rock" is actually a part of the criterion collection.

my big problem with michael bay films are that they have a tendency to lack any kind of substance, and instead focus on trying to sell you cars and manipulate you into feeling some kind of emotion. alas bay seems more concerned with the former than the latter, so on the brief occasions where he actually managed to measure the pseudo-emotion right he throws it all away within seconds with another sun-glare enthused chevy advert.

the curious case of benjamin button (2009)

at first glance, "the curious case of benjamin button" may seem like an odd direction for the director of "fight club" "se7en" to go in, but rest assured that "the curious case of benjamin button" is very much a david fincher film.

the bittersweet story of a man who ages backwards, whom falls in love with a woman aging in the opposite direction at roughly the same time is told with a beautiful conviction that keeps a film that may usually head into "forrest gump"-territory feeling fresh and inventive. brad pitt is on top form as benjamin, providing much more than simply the award-fodder performance that the role requires. cate blanchett in a role much more forthright than expected is also outstanding. the real star of the film (and not one that usually interests me) is the special effects. the aging technique used on benjamin (in reverse) and daisy (traditionally) is awe-inspiring. i genuinely havent been so impressed with a special effect since first seeing gollum in 2002. the obvious benchmarks for the techniques are when the characters are aged to their most extreme, i.e infant and elderly, but for me the effects that stood out the most were those of the characters in their late teens and early 20's. to see cate blanchett with the body of a 17 year old girl ballet dancing truly is an incredible sight, as are the scenes of benjamin travelling throughout india. with brad pitt in the public eye for much of his twenties we are only too familiar with how he looked, and for this reason alone i think that many will not give these scenes credit enough. its a shame because they do look genuinely great, at one point i couldve sworn that brad pitt circa-"meet joe black" was actually on screen!

while a long film at 2 hours and 40 minutes, the film doesnt ever seem to not work, which is a testament to fincher. the opening tale of gateau the blind clockmaker sets the audience into the required pace at hand, and the film doesnt ever get too sentimental. in fact i was reminded of the work of powell and pressburger in many ways. they too dealt with situations that could easily have come across as too emphatic or overdone, yet manage a control that keeps everything in check. this is the closest we will ever see fincher come to doing a "disney" film, and a chance that one should savour.

star trek - the motion picture (1979)

i have never been a huge fan of star trek. as a child i was way into star wars and so drew my allegiance to that side of casual science fiction at an early age. a couple of years back i saw "star trek 2 : the wrath of khan'' on late night television and absolutely loved it; i wasnt as stoic or stuffy as the later films and tv series had led me to believe, and the depth of character drew me in. the absolutely staggering (for its time) climax, in which a major character meets his fate left me eager for the next film. as a result the next night i watched "star trek 3 : the search for spock". well i say i watched, i lasted 15 minutes before the previous innaccessibility of the franchise alienated me once again. and there ends my brief fling with the star trek franchise.

having picked up robert wise's original attempt at a star trek film some months ago, yet never managing to actually finish the film i decided to give it another shot a few nights ago. with that in mind i can safely say that "star trek - the motion picture" is a bit of an unsuccessful venture. bearing in mind the success that is "the wrath of khan" i obviously dont think that the entire franchise is doomed, but the first one suffers from the same problem that a lot of post-star wars science fiction did - it doesnt know how to take itself. does it go for the traditional route, the one in which its series was founded, or does it go for the freewheeling attitude that star wars successfully introduced? to make matters worse, the filmmakers bizarrely seem to take kubrick's "2001 - a space odyssey" as its inspiration instead, taking the film in a far to pseudo-intellectual direction.

the usual suspects (1994)

and now, ladies and gentlemen, a confession. despite my keen interest in all things cinerama i have never, until now that is, seen bryan singer's seminal ''the usual suspects''. i have no excuses, this situation came down to nothing but a lapse in my studies, its no one else's fault, only my own. i take that responsibility.

"the usual suspects" is similiar to "se7en", in the sense that both feel like perfectly formed pieces of cinema. the way the plot falls together, the way that the performences meld and the way that the film pleases the eye is incredibly satisfying. the film has aged incredibly well, and despite the fact that i knew the story's 'twist', it still felt incredibly fresh and dramatic.

kevin spacey is incredible as 'verbal kint', the new york cripple that is revealed to be crime mastermind 'keyser soze'. with this screening following the recent 'se7en' showing, whereby his trademark role of 'john doe' is experienced in its full glory it would have been rather less than difficult for this role to have underwhelmed, alas it is a testament to the actor when i say that his performance as 'verbal kint' was as revelatory as 'john doe' with both feeling completely seperate but incredibly close. of the rest of the performances gabriel byrne, an actor whom i usually jar with, was great, as was stephen baldwin, in his first genuinely interesting performance. pete poslethwaite was horrible tho, i dont know whether or not his ridiculous accent was intended as a way of confusing the audience, but i suspect not. on the other hand, benecio del toro's mumbles were more obscure than ever, proving one of the bizarre highlights of the picture.

one of the main things i took away from this screening, was the disappointed feeling that bryan singer hasnt gone back to the type of film that made his mark. having seen "valkyrie" earlier this week (see below) and been ever so slightly disappointed by just how pedestrien it was, it genuinely feels disconcerting when watched in close proximaty to his debut work.

frost/nixon (2009)

as someone who is a bit of an obsessive with this political era in general i entered 'frost/nixon' with may doubts. ron howard is perhaps the epitome of ''safe'' filmmaking, hes hardly known for his visual flare or even his political gravitas (although the recent 'happy days'-themed obama campaign video he did with henry winkler suggests there is a heavy political awareness in the man if not his work) so with this in mind i was of the staunch opinion that he was the wrong man for this film, and that someone more obvious should have been in his position, say george clooney, aparently attached to the project post-''good night, and good luck''. alas i was wrong. howard pulled off the film with an unfamiliar strong kick. his work in the past has shown a tendency to lean towards the over-emotional, yet the extent to which it was used in "frost/nixon'' actually worked.

much has been made of the projects theatrical origins. many have said (presumably those who havent actually had the pleasure of seeing it) that the film didnt need to be a film, and that at best it would lend itself to a tv movie of sorts. i couldnt disagree more, ''frost/nixon'' is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen. the whole 'theme', for want of a better word throughout of ''the power of the close-up'' is a unique and hugely strong point that exhibits itself throughout the film, and is one of the best uses of the technique that this viewer has ever seen. the cut of the film is very cinematic too, and while the scenes of the now-older participants commenting on the importance of what was happening jars and distracts a little, ultimately its a much more cinematic and powerful experience than maybe one would have anticipated.

while the fancy shooting and cutting may impress, ultimately it comes down to the performances in such an intimate project. having never been terribly impressed with michael sheen's turns as tony blair (iv often considered him to be a poor mans david tennant) i have to admit that i was sold on his david frost. frank langella as richard nixon is a powerhouse of a performance. he owns the screen, and while compared to the actual frost interviews his performance may be slightly bombast, its still a great perfomance that lends an emotional side to nixon that i had never considered prior to this. the best actor contest at this years oscars truly is a thing of great deliberation, what with langella being nominated alongside sean penn in milk and mickey rourke in the wrestler, both of which i have enjoyed hugely. as of the moment my money is going on langella, maybe not for the right reasons (i see it as a career oscar) but still justly deserved.

se7en (1995)

david fincher's creative debut (some of us dont like to talk about alien3!) represents, for this viewer at least, one of the highlights of the cinema of the 1990's. the pacing, the style, the performances all represent what i would consider to be the ultimate in cinematic expectation. stylistically the film shows the streets and locations of the unknown city to be a hellhole lit starkly by rain (rain features in every external scene with the sole exception being the desert-set finale), with the editing matching the pitch and tone of the onscreen interaction subtly but aptly.

in terms of performances ''se7en'' hinges on the transitionary period between morgan freeman's 'william somerset' and brad pitt's 'david mills'. the concept of the transitionary nature of their relationship hints at far more than what is on screen, with the subtext being reminiscent of this relationship in a way. morgan freeman as the grizzled detective who's seen too much and had enough performs in his own unique manner before it became cliche, while pitt as the rookie of sorts follows his work in twelve monkeys with another assured performance. gwyneth paltrow underperforms as pitt's wife, an act which is only a positive thing, as its easily the performance of her career. kevin spacey, unbilled as john doe practically reinvents the psychopath in one foul swoop. the role is reminiscent of a witless hannibal lector, minus the unintentional self deprecation-providing sequels and overt performance, and unbelievably the character still manages to completely shock and disturb almost 15 years on.

brad pitt would later go on to work with fincher on ''fight club'' five years later, and again in this years "the curious case of benjamin button'', with the partnership proving incredibly fruitful. i see their relationship as akin to one of the classic director/actor pairings, along the lines of scorsese/de niro or huston/bogart, and feel that both compliment each other hugely.

valkyrie (2009)

a lot of criticism has been levelled at the use of the respective actors own accent in bryan singer's "valkyrie", yet i feel this is a fairly trivial criticism. if anything the dropping of german accents actively helps the performances, pushing the accessibility whilst dropping any form of distraction. i think a lot of people are forgetting that, at heart at least, this is a popcorn adventure film, and nothing more (despite the best intensions of the filmmakers.

the film tells the story of colonel claus von stauffenberg, a key player in a plot to assassinate adolf hitler. obviously hisory dictates that he wasnt successful in his endevear, yet the suspense of the film still flows.

this is tom cruise's film, something that will be blazingly obvious to anyone who has seen the films marketing campaign or indeed any tom cruise film this decade. i once wrote an essay on how cruise is perhaps unique in the sense that he is the only actor who could be considered an auteur, in the respect that he makes the majority of the creative decisions on a film project, akin to how a director would usually. thats not to say that the rest of the performances in''valkyrie'' are invisible. kenneth branagh, terrence stamp and thomas kretschmann (the actor originally set to play von stauffenberg, prior to cruise's involvement) are all great, although bill nighy annoys (as usual).

stylistically the film isnt the usual thing that one would expect from bryan singer, its far too pedestrian. alas it does what it intends to do, and for a couple of hours at least, is an entertaining saturday night film.

monty python's life of brian (1979)

the second of the monty python film's is generally considered to be the best of the series, although this was actually the first time iv seen the film in its entirety. personally i think the film suffers a little from the focus on the narrative, it didnt feel as scattershot as "the holy grail", which for this type of comedy i think is key. the opening scene after the beautifully animated credits is genuinely a thing of wonder though, absolutely ridiculous and hilarious. the sight of the woman (man!?) carrying a rubber donkey over her shoulders is one of the sights i will never forget.

the hopeandbullshitlist (at 21/01/2009)

no real changes this week, ''the wrestler'' charts high, but that was to be expected. this week, theatrically we have "valkyrie", frost/nixon" and "rachel getting married", and i have tickets to previews of "the curious case of benjamin button" and "faintheart" too, so a busy week for sure!


1. pierrot le fou (jean-luc godard)
2. the passenger (michelangelo antonioni)
3. au hasard balthazar (robert bresson)
4. the element of crime (lars von trier)
5. sunrise (f.w murnau)
6. the wrestler (darren aronofsky) *
7. a man escaped (robert bresson)
8. traffic (steven soderbergh)
9. che - part one (steven soderbergh) *
10. pickpocket (robert bresson)
11. milk (gus van sant) *
12. bottle rocket (wes anderson)
13. twelve monkeys (terry gilliam)
14. the outlaw josey wales (clint eastwood)
15. red desert (michelangelo antonioni)
16. mon oncle antoine (claude jutra)
17. che - part two (steven soderbergh) *
18. shadow of a doubt (alfred hitchcock)
19. unforgiven (clint eastwood)
20. f for fake (orson welles)
21. the brothers bloom (rian johnson) *
22. changeling (clint eastwood)
23. l'argent (robert bresson)
24. lancelot du lac (robert bresson)
25. rear window (alfred hitchcock)
26. the dark knight (christopher nolan)
27. wall-e (andrew stanton)
28. the silence of the lambs (jonathan demme)
29. slumdog millionaire (danny boyle) *
30. the limey (steven soderbergh)
31. blow up (michelangelo antonioni)
32. spellbound (alfred hitchcock)
33. europa (lars von trier)
34. the shop on main street (ján kadár and elmar klos)
35. hellboy - the golden army (guillermo del toro)
36. the adventures of baron munchausen (terry gilliam)
37. lars and the real girl (craig gillespie)
38. out of sight (steven soderbergh)
39. days of heaven (terence malick)
40. la ricotta (pier paolo pasolini)
41. blindness (fernando meirelles)
42. killer's kiss (stanley kubrick)
43. dirty harry (don siegal)
44. mad detective (johnnie to & wai ka fa)
45. the idiot (akira kurosawa)
46. in bruges (martin mcdonough)
47. time bandits (terry gilliam)
48. tideland (terry gilliam)
49. play misty for me (clint eastwood)
50. bigger than life (nicholas ray)
51. bronco billy (clint eastwood)
52. withnail & i (bruce robinson)
53. the terminator (james cameron)
54. the wizard of oz (victor fleming)
55. hancock (peter berg)
56. the day the earth stood still (robert wise)
57. iron man (jon favreau)
58. saboteur (alfred hitchcock)
59. the gauntlet (clint eastwood)
60. breezy (clint eastwood)
61. before the devil knows youre dead (sidney lumet)
62. rope (alfred hitchcock)
63. total recall (paul verhoeven)
64. mallrats (kevin smith)
65. die hard (john mctiernan)
66. magnum force (ted post)
67. casino royale (martin campbell)
68. frenzy (alfred hitchcock)
69. body of lies (ridley scott)
70. solaris (steven soderbergh)
71. the trouble with harry (alfred hitchcock)
72. indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull (steven spielberg)
73. the puffy chair (duplass brothers)
74. "the birds" (alfred hitchcock)
75. i am legend (francis lawrence)
76. space cowboys (clint eastwood)
78. quantum of solace (marc forster)
79. wanted (timur bekmambetov)
80. the reader *
81. the magnificent ambersons (orson welles)
82. speed (jan de bont)
83. australia (baz luhrmann)
84. coogans bluff (don siegal)
85. the enforcer (james fargo)
86. joe kidd (john sturges)
87. spider-man 3 (sam raimi)
88. dear wendy (thomas vinterberg)
89. goldeneye (martin campbell)
90. night watch (timur bekmambetov)
91. judge dredd (danny cannon)
92. strangers on a train (alfred hitchcock)
93. jamaica inn (alfred hitchcock)
94. robocop 3 (fred dekker)
95. robocop 2 (irvin kershner)
95. my bloody valentine (patrick lussier) *
96. a nightmare on elm street 4 (renny harlin)
97. a nightmare on elm street (wes craven)
98. zack and miri make a porno (kevin smith)
99. goldfinger (guy hamilton)
100. a nightmare on elm street 2 (jack sholder)
101. you only live twice (lewis gilbert)
102. mad max - beyond thunderdome (george miller & george ogilvie)
103. die another day (lee tamahori)
104. a nightmare on elm street 3 (chuck russell)
105. a nightmare on elm street 5 (stephen hopkins)
106. a nightmare on elm street 6 (rachel talalay)
107. W. (oliver stone)

(* indicates a theatrical release from 2009)

la ricotta (1963)

pier paolo pasolini's short film may last only 35 minutes, but it fits into it as many ideas, social comments and stylistic devices as any of his other films.

orson welles plays a director attempting to make a version of the story of 'the passion', and the resulting chaos that ensues provides the bulk of the film. style wise the film marks a rapid departure from the work immediately prior to this film, with the combination of the neo-realism mise-en-scene contrasting wildly with the technicolor of the scenes from welles' film intercut. the combination of the two styles is representative of the two different era's of pasolini's work collidin, likewise the scene with the talking dog and the one with the speeded up running are hugely different to the subtle nature of his earlier work and indicative of the work he would later go onto do in films such as "salo".

the religious nature of the film is but a small indication of the huge nature of the importance of religion as a theme in pasolini's work. in my opinion the fact that the film was banned upon initial release says more about the contradictory nature of the governing bodies at the time than the intention of pasolini. i honestly believe that pasolini's announcement/disclaimer of intent at the begining of the film is sincere, and that the offence caused, presumably in the scenes of the players acting around whilst waiting to film their scenes, was more of a comment than an act of genuine disdain. the comments would be more aptly applied to politics rather religion, with the character of stacci being an obvious analogy for christ.

tideland (2005)

terry gilliam's most recent film, the financially underwhelming (now theres a surprise...) "tideland" proved to be an enriching experience. the overtly joyful story set amongst incredibly bleak surroundings draws obvious comparisons with guellermo del toro's "pan's labyrinth" and "the devils backbone".

jodelle ferland stars as the young girl jeliza-rose, in a performance that is best described as outstanding, especially when you consider the nature of the story and the fact that shes playing several roles (the dolls etc), and the fact that for the most part she is the sole actor on screen. brendan fletcher plays dickens, a heavily mentally handicapped boy in a role that saw my thoughts turn those i had upon initially seeing rinko kikuchi playing a deaf in babel; i presumed that it must be a genuinely disabled person playing the role. alas i was wrong, which only serves to show how impressive the performance was. there are cameo appearances from jeff bridges and jennifer tilly as jeliza-rose's ill-fated parents.

while the film took its time to get going, once it did i was obsessed with what was going on, which surprised me a great deal. the film is about being a child, as explained by gilliam's introduction to the work, and more importantly, it feels like you are watching the film as a child. gilliam clearly has a lot of passion for "tideland", and that projects clearly on to the project.

the adventures of baron munchausen (1989)

terry gilliam's long considered flop is a much more interesting and therefore successful film than one would have presumed. the films is an obvious follow up to time bandits, both visually, narratively and content wise. ''the adventures of baron munchausen" is much more ambitious though, which is presumably why its supposed failings are amplified. the film takes place, like "time bandits", in many different locations, and while that may not seem out of the ordinary when the locations include the moon (taken straight out of melies) and the inside of a fish that looks like an island, then obviously that matters. the sheer scale of the film is rather breathtaking. in a new transfer on dvd the film looks barely a year old, it hasnt aged at all. the fact that the film is 20 years old is beyond my comprehension! while the film is a fantasy comedy at heart there are traces of science fiction and serious drama throughout. the whole subplot regarded death catching up with the baron, while ultimately rather pointless adds a serious weight to proceedings. and while its not a genre per se, the film at times reminds of a cartoon, with the exagerated nuances that one would expect with such things showing through (the feet whilst running etc)

john neville leads a solid cast, featuring appearences from gilliam mainstays jonathan pryce, jack purvis and valentina cortese alongside early roles for sarah polley and uma thurman. gilliam's monty python partner eric idle also features as do robin williams and, most bizarrely, oliver reed.

the special effects are of note, with the combination of all manners of technique, from stop frame animation and computer generated imagery to real mechanical props all making an appearance. theres even an early version of ''bullet-time''! amazing cinematography compliments the special effects, with some genuinely beautiful scenario's on display.

with a film like "the adventures of baron munchausen" in his oeuvre its difficult to understand why gilliam didnt get the oppurtunity to work on some of the bigger fantasy franchises of late. gilliam's style would have been perfect for the harry potter films, alas im under the impression that he turned the producers down. gilliam's influence can be seen in the work of guillermo del toro though, through the use of clockwork, mechanical props alongside old-fashioned, man in costume-type solutions when creating larger than life characters, see the grim reaper design in "the adventures of baron munchausen" as an example.

in all, while its not my favourite of gilliam's films its still an incredibly beautiful looking film that has a heart to match. this all bodes rather well for the recent announcement that gilliam is back working on his don quixote project, i expect the two projects will have much in common.

time bandits (1981)

terry gilliam's miniature epic is one of the few films that have genuine crossover value for both adults and children alike. the story of a young boy, kevin, who somehow ends up on an adventure throughout time and space with a band of dwarves works on many levels. primarily the story is great; the characters have heart and are genuinely appealing and the constant flow of cameo appearances keeps the pace of the film flowing rapidly (sean connery, john cleese and michael palin all make appearances). visually the film is stunning, utilising the bizarre mind of its creator for all its worth, resulting in some truly bizarre visages. despite the fairly basic premise the film has a strong undercurrant of deeper context. the use of bureaucracy and technology to suggest a negative impace on imagination is key. time bandits is thought of as the first part in gilliam's "trilogy of imagination", which also includes "brazil" and "the adventures of baron munchausen". each film features a protagonist of a particular age, with kevin representing youth, "brazil'' lead sam representing adulthood and the baron of "the adventures of baron munchausen" being old age, and the way in which they express their imagination. control of ones imagination by external forces, be it government, god or parents is explored heavily through each of the films.

lars and the real girl (2008)

craig gillespie's quirky love story sees ryan gosling playing a very different role to that of his previous turn in 2007's "half nelson". lars is a man with relationship/intimacy/social issues, who, with the help of the titular 'real' girl finds a way of dealing with his problems.

i found "lars and the real girl" to be incredibly moving, much moreso than expected. gosling is an absolute revelation as the shy and withdrawn lars, not that his capability as an actor was ever in question, i feel that he is perhaps the finest young actor of his generation.

strangers on a train (1951)

another hitchcock "wrongly accused/man on the run" thriller features a pair of impressive performances at the heart of it, yet fails to impress on almost every other level. the finale set upon a fairground carousel is thrilling though, and some of the subtler concepts are of interest (the rather blatant use of "doubles" throughout is an interesting enough notion).

twelve monkeys (1998)

terry gilliam's first foray into science fiction since 1985's "brazil" marked the biggest success of his career (thus far at least). bruce willis is wonderfully overshadowed by a young brad pitt, in his pre-fight club days showing off the depths of his potential. indeed his turn as mental patient turned animal activist jeffrey goines proved that he wasnt just a pretty face, in a turn that is both full of humour and terror in equal measures. thats not to say that bruce willis isnt great either, his performance as jailbird turned human saviour james cole is the performance of his career, and probably the best thing to come out of any of the resurrected careers of pulp fiction.

the world of the future portrayed in "twelve monkeys" is that of a dystopian one, wherein a virus has ravaged the human race. its up to james cole to go back in time to prevent the terrorist attack that caused the decline in civilization. "twelve monkeys" is one of the films from the late nineties that deals with the subject of terrorism in the way in which it existed prior to the events of 9/11 and as such is an interesting take on the subject.

the film deals with the familiar gilliam themes of memory, time and perceived madness. in this case the most obvious comparison would be "brazil", but i think that the nature of the issues are far less ambiguous in "twelve monkeys" than that film.

for me, "twelve monkeys" sits alongside "brazil" as gilliam's finest film. its strange considering that "twelve monkeys" may actually be his most commercial feature, but i just think it works so well.

the wrestler (2009)

i honestly believe that darren aronofsky is one of the most interesting people working in cinema today. i was one of the few that wholeheartedly adored (and still adore) "the fountain", seeing it at its very first screening when it was released a few years ago. to this day i still defend it online, an act i have become accustomed with from the very first evening after seeing it. i just dont understand what the big problem with that film is, i dont understand why people hate it so vehemently. anyway, regardless of my feeling on that film im pleased to see that aronofsky is back in the loving arms of the film press at large.

my one worry over "the wrestler" was that aronofsky may dilute his style too much, that he may have been worried about over stylising his film after the complaints of his previous effort. alas i had little to worry about, there are plenty of indications that this is a film by a bona-fide auteur, working at the (current) height of his craft. the fractured narrative in the telling of randy's (mickey rourke) near-fatal wrestling match shows traits of aronofsky's past, with the most telling sign being the abrupt ending. i cant explain how pleased i was to see that the ending of the film wasnt a cop out, with the usual hollywood ending tact on. it wouldnt have made sense for randy to be happy anywhere other than on the top turnbuckle of a wrestling ring, and im glad to see that that is where we leave him. randy is a fuck up, he cant do anything right outside of the ring yet inside of it he is transformed into a king.

mickey rourke is the obvious standout of the picture, as shown from the huge reception that he has received for the role. he is wonderful as randy "the ram", but as to whether the role will kickstart his career or not, im not too sure it will. perhaps rourke is too much like the character, and is always destined to mess things up regardless of the chances he is given. based on previous for it would suggest the latter, but im hoping not. marisa tomei is great in support, as the stripper with a heart. what with this and "before the devil knows youre dead" she too is on a bit of a career resurgence.

"the wrestler" is the one hundredth film on the hopeandbullshitlist. i cant think of a better film to take that honor.

my bloody valentine 3D (2009)

this was showing in my local cinema in new fangled 3D, the type that james cameron is using for avatar. it was for this reason and this reason alone that i decided to check it out on my day off.

the film was terrible, just genuinely awful. the opening credits were amazing tho, in which the backstory of a disaster in a mine shaft was recapped using newspaper headlines. oddly enough, the standout had to be the lionsgate logo. i know that may sound a tad ridiculous, but the clockwork nature of the logo made me realise just how cool 3D could work in the hands of proper a filmmaker who can handle visuals well, someone like guilermo del toro. the trailer for coraline was ten times as impressive as anything in my bloody valentine, which was just beyond predictable and ludicrous (at one point a woman hits the "killer", who wears a helmet, on the head with a frying pan). worth seeing if you can get to it in 3D, but as an actual film its little beyond the usual rubbish you would expect on a late night horror channel.

oh, and the overuse of torches as a 3D device was beyond tired after the first five minutes. you know its a bad sign when the director seems to think that a police officer needs a torch in a fully lit house.

the reader (2009)

empire magazine referred to "the reader" as "the epitome of middle-brow ‘quality’ drama", which sums up stephen daldry's film perfectly. while it wasnt particular bad, it wasnt anything great either. the lack of kate winslett surprised me greatly, and the higher than expected amount of ralph fiennes was appreciated, yet the film seemed to lack a powerful enough hook to really make it stick in the mind. the final years of hannah (winslett) and michael's (fiennes) friendship was incredibly touching, the sight of michael beginning his cycle of recordings especially, but beyond that the film was just average.

jamaica inn (1939)

while the opening scenes of the film impressed and charles laughton's performance was the usual combination of bombast and emotional believability, the rest of this early example of hitchcock's british period failed to work for this viewer. the storming of a capsized ship could have come straight from a silent film, so well constructed was the section in a visual sense, but soon after i found myself in a uniue situation thus far associated with hitchcock; i was struck down with boredom. the "twist" is seen coming from a mile away, with its revelation coming so early on that i actually thought the third act was in full swing. disappointing to say the least, the premise really hooked me, yet the execution failed terribly.

the hopeandbullshitlist (at14/01/2009)

lots of new films to go into the list today, with plenty of filler to fit in at the bottom (courtesy of the nightmare on elm street series).


1. pierrot le fou (jean-luc godard)
2. the passenger (michelangelo antonioni)
3. au hasard balthazar (robert bresson)
4. the element of crime (lars von trier)
5. sunrise (f.w murnau)
6. a man escaped (robert bresson)
7. traffic (steven soderbergh)
8. che - part one (steven soderbergh) *
9. pickpocket (robert bresson)
10. milk (gus van sant) *
11. bottle rocket (wes anderson)
12. the outlaw josey wales (clint eastwood)
13. red desert (michelangelo antonioni)
14. mon oncle antoine (claude jutra)
15. che - part two (steven soderbergh) *
16. shadow of a doubt (alfred hitchcock)
17. unforgiven (clint eastwood)
18. f for fake (orson welles)
19. the brothers bloom (rian johnson) *
20. changeling (clint eastwood)
21. l'argent (robert bresson)
22. lancelot du lac (robert bresson)
23. rear window (alfred hitchcock)
24. the dark knight (christopher nolan)
25. wall-e (andrew stanton)
26. the silence of the lambs (jonathan demme)
27. slumdog millionaire (danny boyle) *
28. the limey (steven soderbergh)
29. blow up (michelangelo antonioni)
30. spellbound (alfred hitchcock)
31. europa (lars von trier)
32. the shop on main street (ján kadár and elmar klos)
33. hellboy - the golden army (guillermo del toro)
34. out of sight (steven soderbergh)
35. days of heaven (terence malick)
36. blindness (fernando meirelles)
37. killer's kiss (stanley kubrick)
38. dirty harry (don siegal)
39. mad detective (johnnie to & wai ka fa)
40. the idiot (akira kurosawa)
41. in bruges (martin mcdonough)
42. play misty for me (clint eastwood)
43. bigger than life (nicholas ray)
44. bronco billy (clint eastwood)
45. withnail & i (bruce robinson)
46. the terminator (james cameron)
47. the wizard of oz (victor fleming)
48. hancock (peter berg)
49. the day the earth stood still (robert wise)
50. iron man (jon favreau)
51. saboteur (alfred hitchcock)
52. the gauntlet (clint eastwood)
53. breezy (clint eastwood)
54. before the devil knows youre dead (sidney lumet)
55. rope (alfred hitchcock)
56. total recall (paul verhoeven)
57. mallrats (kevin smith)
58. die hard (john mctiernan)
59. magnum force (ted post)
60. casino royale (martin campbell)
61. frenzy (alfred hitchcock)
62. body of lies (ridley scott)
63. solaris (steven soderbergh)
64. the trouble with harry (alfred hitchcock)
65. indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull (steven spielberg)
66. the puffy chair (duplass brothers)
67. "the birds" (alfred hitchcock)
68. i am legend (francis lawrence)
69. space cowboys (clint eastwood)
70. quantum of solace (marc forster)
71. wanted (timur bekmambetov)
72. the magnificent ambersons (orson welles)
73. speed (jan de bont)
74. australia (baz luhrmann)
75. coogans bluff (don siegal)
76. the enforcer (james fargo)
77. joe kidd (john sturges)
78. spider-man 3 (sam raimi)
79. dear wendy (thomas vinterberg)
80. goldeneye (martin campbell)
81. night watch (timur bekmambetov)
82. judge dredd (danny cannon)
83. robocop 3 (fred dekker)
84. robocop 2 (irvin kershner)
85. a nightmare on elm street 4 (renny harlin)
86. a nightmare on elm street (wes craven)
87. zack and miri make a porno (kevin smith)
88. goldfinger (guy hamilton)
89. a nightmare on elm street 2 (jack sholder)
90. you only live twice (lewis gilbert)
91. mad max - beyond thunderdome (george miller & george ogilvie)
92. die another day (lee tamahori)
93. a nightmare on elm street 3 (chuck russell)
94. a nightmare on elm street 5 (stephen hopkins)
95. a nightmare on elm street 6 (rachel talalay)
96. W. (oliver stone)

(* indicates a theatrical release from 2009)


wow, as you can see im almost at 100 films, which is pretty good going considering the relatively short life span of this project. im personally rather surprised to see just how much i enjoyed milk, prevailent from its high placing. please remeber, the placements are largely based upon immediate reaction, so a new film charting high isnt going to be a particularly surprising affair. im seeing several films theatrically this weekend, starting tomorrow with "the reader", followed early friday morning with "my bloody valentine 3D", a film which im seeing solely for the reason that its being shown near me using the 3D technique that james cameron is using for avatar. if it wasnt for that reason alone i wouldnt be going. to empty my mind of such (presumably) terrible filmmaking i will be seeing a film later that day of which i have high hopes; "the wrestler". my anticipation for this project is at a ridiculous level, having followed aronofsky's work closely since the production of "requim for a dream". im one of the few people that adore "the fountain" and will be introducing my girlfriend to "pi" following the screening of "the wrestler". i have high hopes.

lancelot du lac (1974)

lancelot du lac (translated to mean "lancelot of the lake'') represents new territory for robert bresson. the film is borderline fantastically, or at least it bases itself in the realm of fantasy, as a vivid retelling of the legend of king arthur. what is especially interesting about this concept is that it is a distictively french take on a distictly british tale.

the film opens, rather unusually for bresson, with an action scene. its decidely bresson in the choice of angles used to portray the flow of the action, as well as in the pace of the editing. its a rather odd way to open the picture, as it is soon followed by an opening scroll explaining the story up to this point. this opening scroll contains the first of many witty asides presumably aimed at the british origins of the story at hand, with the overuse of the word ''heroic'' et al. post-scroll we cut to a new scenario, one of which is perhaps most familiar with bresson's previous work. a peasent family are disturbed by a lost knight of the realm, in a scene which echoes ''au hasard balthazar''.

bresson's usual use (some would say overuse) of religious iconography is especially prevailant in "lancelot du lac". presumably the premise of the film (the war occurs as it is said to be "gods will") is intended to be a comment on the notion that all wars are a product of religion. alongside this the film deals with ancient superstitions throughout, and much in the same way that paranoia rises in his other films ("a man escaped" and "pickpocket" especially), the woe caused by the superstitions rises. in terms of the different types of faith explored in the film, there are parallels between those of guinevere and lancelot's love for each other and that of jeanne in "pickpocket". the same could be said of balthazar in "au hasard balthazar also.

the scenes of conflict, be they in the sense of practice, the tournament or indeed genuine battle, carry the heavy characteristics with which you would usually expect of bresson. tight panning close ups, fastened to a particular item (joust stick, boot spur) are prevailent throughout, with the emphasis on feet throughout the entire tournament especially noticeable. in fact, throughout this entire sequence we never see above the protagonists waist. its a similiar technique to that of the way in which the pickpocketing sequence from the eponymous film were shot. we, as the viewer are left contemplating the result of the scenario for far longer than we would usually expect to be. as a result this adds an extra layer of tension to the situation. as well as this, bresson uses basic techniques such as laying an upcoming scenes soundtrack over the preceeding ones visuals to great dramatic effect. the scene early on in the picture, wherein lancelot and guinevere are first discovered together by the other knights, uses this technique wonderfully.

pickpocket (1959)

robert bresson's unconventional love story treads over familiar bresson territory in getting to its revelatory climax. while i say revelatory, the climax to the film is outlined in its opening declaration, at least hinting at the conclusion we are going to arrive at. this opening is incredibly bold, which is something i found to be against type for a bresson picture. reassuringly we are soon back in the usual bresson areas of subtle, slow paced but assured filmmaking. the film follows michel, a small time hoodlum seemingly unwilling to conform to the expected ideals of society. instead he chooses to steal, in a manner he deems to be more worthy than common theft.

like his previous "a man escaped" the narrative (and in turn narration) follows the lead character completely. we never see anything beyond his standpoint, nor are we privy to anything around him that he isnt (see his final arrest for a great example). the irony that michel is at his happiest when behind bars, at least internally upon realisation of jeanne's love for him, obviously stands against the entire plot of "a man escaped". the fact that this is yet another film that revolves around jail from bresson serves only to fuel the reasoning behind his obsession. there are obvious metaphorical connotations of jail (freedom perhaps being the most obvious, and hardly a metaphor), but i must admit to being very curious as to why these institutions are so prevailant throughout his work.

the "crimes" commited throughout the film are exhibited in a very unique manner, and one that is highly reminiscent of bresson's other work. at times they appear in a kind of 'real-time-slow motion', showing the high level of detail in each "job", abeit in a poetic and almost beautiful moment. the scene in the train station wherein many a con are carried out is almost comparable to the way in which a dance may be shot and cut. the fluidity is magnificent. similiarly the way in which the first and final 'jobs' are shot in real-time from a restricted point of view heighten the tension to a high level.

the relationship between michel and the head police officer is a rather fascinating one. their relationship is one of the key thematic points throughout the picture, and certain connotations being turned upside down convey to the audience a confusing yet comfortable notion. for example as i have already mentioned 'michel', the lowly criminal and stereotypical bad guy is the protagonist of the film, thanks to the dawn of the anti-hero, yet traditionally the hero in this type of story would be that of the police officer. instead he is seen to be a dated and negative concept. when michel waxes lyrical with the chief of police about a highly controversial subject; the concept of the super-man, the audience is structurally led to believe that michel is right, with the policeman's view being that of an irrelevent and corrupt institution. with fascism rife throughout europe at the time, and especially as it was a major part of the nazi-manifesto, the very idea of a protagonist ably supporting the legitimacy ofsomething like the super-man notion is revolutionary in itself, even moreso when his message is projected upon the viewer (and successfully to boot). likewise the exploration of stealing as a legitimate enterprise, although ultimately villified is at times teased with (see the scene wherein michel deposits his legitimate wage into his pocket, in an identical manner to the way in which he places the money he has stolen in there).

the use of editing as a tool within which to invisibly move time forward is utilised greatly in "pickpocket". so much so that months and years pass by, with only the use of the basic narrative structure and key events passing by for explanation (see the birth of jeanne's baby).

its an interesting coincidence that "pickpocket" was released in the same year as jean-luc godard's "a bout de souffle", if not for more than the simple fact that both lead characters are named 'michel'. both films deal with the architypical anti-hero, yet while godard's film encouraged possibly the most important film movement of the 20th century, bresson's film maintained the still and restricted style expected of his work, although that is not a comment inspired by negativity. in fact i would like to point out just how surprised i have been by how much i have enjoyed bresson's work so much, especially considering just how much i love the work of the 'nouvelle vague'. the fact that bresson's incredibly unique style survived throughout the upheaval of french cinema is a testament to just how unique and important his style was.