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Fight Club 1999
The first time, Fight Club is a kick to the guts.
Each time after that, it's an intellectual exercise, an "I see what you did there". One of the few films that holds up to that repeated viewing experience whilst still being engrossing.
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Alien 1979
The opening section of Alien reminded me a lot of a Gothic murder mystery - slow moving, rolling fog over silhouetted hills, unfriendly (usually silent) locals, and some dark secret lingering beyond the knowledge of the main characters.
Even past that point of discovery, it becomes something similar to an old-fashioned locked-room mystery, except that instead of trying to find out WHO is the murderer, we're trying to find out WHERE they are.
Maybe that's why it holds up so…
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Melancholia 2011
"This isn't fun any more", Charlotte Gainsbourg whispers. 'No, it's not', I think. It hasn't been for a long time. I'm waiting - no, hoping! - for the destruction of our planet and with it these bizarrely fragile characters.
Melancholia has some powerful metaphors, I'll admit that much.
Ever had a panic attack? Crushing weight on your chest, breath hard to come by, a dense feeling of horror, certainty that something terrible is about to happen, no matter how much…
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Intouchables 2012
I'm not the kind of person laughs out loud much - I show my appreciation for humour with a smile. This film made me genuinely laugh out loud for almost its entire duration. Beautiful, beautiful film.
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The Wrestler 2008
One of the reasons why I love (and hate) Aronofsky's films is because he makes me desperately hope for a character who I know is only destined for some tragic demise.
The Wrestler's Randy is one big washed-up ball of tragedy - steroids and mobile homes and supermarket hair bleach. He's seen his high water mark come and go and now wallows in the memory of what once was. Every now and then you see his sad eyes and you…
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X2: X-Men United 2003
A little late to the party. Seems super cheesy. Maybe I need to be really drunk to find Wolverine as sexy as I once did?
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2009
This Mikael has zero sexual chemistry. Lisbeth isn't *weird* enough. The pacing is really odd.
I still liked it.
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When Harry Met Sally... 1989
When Harry Met Sally is one of those cult classics that people curl up with on a sick-day, or after a breakup, and say it makes them feel all warm and fuzzy, and like there's someone out there for them after all.
Actually, I had the opposite response. Because it doesn't really happen like this, does it? Take out the 'I've realised I'm in love and I'm running to tell you so in a maybe creepy but maybe romantic way'…
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Love and Other Drugs 2010
Not unenjoyable, but probably the best comparison I have is to a mash-up - it's like the director filmed a goofy romcom, and then intercut it with footage from a melodramatic 'dying girl' tragedy (not that, you know, Anne Hathaway's character is dying, but still). It feels bizarrely inconsistent, and you're never really sure how to react.
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Eat Pray Love 2010
Okay, so I'm a white girl who's a total hippie and completely besotted with travelling and food, and would love to fall in love with a Brazilian man. Okay, so I adore Neil Young. Yeah, okay, so this film was made for me. Shut up.
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The Baader Meinhof Complex 2008
Interminably long pseudo-documentary with intensely unlikeable characterisation. Saving grace: beautifully shot.
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The Corporation 2003
Is it just me, or does this film feel like it was made in 1992?
